Enemy of the Village
by Cartesian
Summary: Naruto has always been an outsider. When Mizuki tricks him into stealing the sacred scroll, A complete stranger shows up to save him instead of Iruka, causing his personality to change radically. Now he's a one-man army at war with Konoha.NaruxSakuxSasu
1. Opportunity makes the thief

**Chapter 1: Opportunity makes the thief**

Viral paused in his meditations, opened his eyes just long enough to get his master's attention. The young lord wasn't paying attention, but his servant girl was. Nodding slightly, the seer snapped his eyes shut again.

"My lord! Viral-sama has seen something!" she cried, tugging on the man's sleeve.

"_Seen something?" _Viral mused._ I haven't stopped "seeing things" in months. But this is big, this is...interesting._

"Yes, what is it!?" Tohno jerked awake suddenly. Falling asleep while sitting up perfectly straight was his specialty. "Viral-san, what have you seen?"

Those eyes had just opened, they didn't feel like doing it again. Viral spoke softly but his voice reverberated around the chamber. "I have found a great potential, but I fear the contact point is very swiftly approaching. Without more time to study him-

"How powerful is it!?" Tohno interrupted him, as the oracle had known he would. These powers of prediction were relatively new, but the budding soothsayer was starting to find a pattern: they always came closest to reality when the worst possibility came true. It was for this reason that he wanted to hesitate, but now his power was telling him the young man would actually force the information out of him if he refused to continue. This alarming revelation put the lord in a new light, a much less pleasant light indeed.

"It isn't an 'it,' it's a person. _He_ is immensely powerful, capable of ravaging an entire shinobi village, and he has only just begun to develop."

A vacant smile swept onto his master's face, and Viral shuddered violently as his mind raced. _What have I done!? Was this person always this close to evil? How have I not noticed before?_

"However," the oracle boomed, opening his eyes to look at the young man. Tohno's smile faded slightly and he turned fully to face his retainer's next words. "His heart will only waver for a single night, perhaps even a single minute. Past that his future is radically different, so I can only assume his loyalty will be cemented elsewhere. Should we fail to recruit him, we shall be annihilated by the wrath of the Fire Country within the space of a week.

Viral had barely caught himself: he'd almost said 'fail to _corrupt_ him,' but a sharp pain told him it would be his death. _Curse the violent bandit my lord just became! Curse the parents that raised him and the servant that brought me to him! Curse my inability to predict such a terrible outcome!_

"Shikasa," Tohno said lightly, "Bring me my cloak."

"Yes, my lord."

"Crom!" the lord called to his captain. "I want my personal guard assembled immediately! And bring me my horse!"

Viral's head swam as his master called a servant from the door.

"You are to go to my cousin Oliver. Tell him he shall rule in my place while I am gone. I'll take with me one-quarter of the treasury and supplies to last my men a month."

The man just stared at him, wide-eyed. "My lord?"

"And tell him to take good care of my women! Now go!"

After the man scampered off, Tohno seemed to think of something.

"Viral-san, what will Oliver do with the women?"

"He will free them, my lord."

"I see. They had better be killed in that case."

"W-wait, my lord." Viral touched a hand to his temple and grimaced the way he usually did. "One of them has a brother, a powerful ninja. He will come after you." The seer nervously pushed away the prediction of what would happen if Tohno didn't believe his lie.

The young man eyed him warily for a few seconds. "You shall come with me and point her out, then when she has been freed-"

"She will not go quietly!" the man interrupted. He gained confidence as the future of his punishment grew fainter. "She is strong-willed, and will return to check on the others. Please, my lord, you cannot kill a single one of them."

"Alright, alright!" Tohno waved his hands innocently, and Viral wanted so badly to believe it was true.

"My lord, if I may?"

"What is it?" Tohno snapped.

"Forgive me, but...you will change your mind shortly before we leave. It pains me that you do not trust your servant."

"Very well, very well. Guard!!!"

A man quickly rounded the corner, spear at the ready.

"Go to the women's quarters and tell them they are all free to go as they please. Then go directly to Oliver and tell him what you have done on my orders. I would _prefer_ that you arrive before the other servant I have already sent to him."

The guard took the hint and actually dashed out of the room.

"Now then Viral, I am about to leave my kingdom and rush off to another country entirely on your word that there will come a few _minutes_ when a powerful fighter can be convinced to defect and join me."

"Yes, that is the reason you sought me out." The oracle's face carried less emotion than ever before.

"Perhaps you should now tell me _when_ this opportunity will come?"

Viral paused as streams passed through his mind, a plethora of unpleasant possibilities. He closed his eyes to focus on them better while Tohno watched impatiently.

_What have I done? What can I do?_

His eyes flew open sharply: he had seen it. He looked at the young man before him with no hatred in his eyes and nothing but hatred in his heart. _He'll go after my sister,_ the oracle almost breathed out loud.

Sighing, he caved. "Three days, my lord."

"Excellent. We depart in an hour."

* * *

This story begins before the official Naruto storyline. Three days earlier, if you catch my drift. The chapters are short, and will continue to be short but they're easy to write: I wrote 1-5 yesterday. I'll post 2 per day, one in the morning and one in the evening, until my writing slows down and the story catches up to it. Also, I promised a new chapter of my other Naruto Fanfic, The Peddler Comes to Konoha, so I have to do that as well. If you haven't read it, it's probably better quality than this story and it includes a lot more of the Naruto characters. It's sort of a long-term project vs random short-story relationship.


	2. The last prank

**Chapter 2: The last prank**

Naruto glared at the class. Several students glared back, but most tried very hard to ignore him. He was bound, and this time gagged, sitting on the floor off to the side while Iruka taught his lesson. It was a very rare one, something about loyalty to the village being more important than strength.

The blond screwup smirked deviously, just enough so that the kids watching him saw it in his eyes. One of them, a girl with long black hair, shot up her hand.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Sensei! Naruto's got that look again. He's planning something!"

Iruka whirled, immediately alert. Naruto smiled at him as best he could with the gag. An eyebrow rose on his teacher's face, but after a few seconds the man said nothing and turned back to the class.

"Don't you think Naruto deserves a bit of a break? I mean look at him." The jounin chuckled weakly, privately worried sick about the class's growing enmity towards his student.

"Yeah, look at him," another student said sarcastically. He's tied up and fuming in the corner after yet another one of his pranks backfired."

"That's not exactly what I meant..."

"And check out his jumpsuit," another kid added, "You can see the soot on his elbows from the prank he pulled _three days_ ago. I bet he hasn't taken it off once since then."

A chorus of "eww!" and "gross, man." went around the room and Naruto started to actually feel upset. A little. It would take more than that to get him down.

Carefully, he turned his head until his gag brushed against the fake-blood packet he'd hidden in his collar earlier. _Check this out, losers._

"Class, settle down!" Iruka had to say it many times before they actually became quiet. "Now, as I was saying, your enemies won't always be trying to kill you out there. Much more dangerous is the opponent who gains blackmail on you. A truly devious ninja will try to win you over without a fight, and if he succeeds he's dealt a powerful blow to your village.

"Whoa, check it out!" a boy whispered to his friend. "Naruto's bleeding."

"No he's not," the other replied. "I saw him bite something, it's probably fake blood."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah. Hey, pass it around. Let's see what he does when we all start cheering that he's dead."

"You're a genius, man." With that, they both turned to spread the news among their classmates.

* * *

"So in the end the village is like a single person. We all look out for each other and support each other, and we all benefit. Without the sense of camaraderie..."

"Mmmf," Naruto said behind him. Iruka tried to ignore the boy.

"...Without the sense of camaraderie, the village has no reason to exist. We should always..."

"MMMF!! MMM-GRBLSLGGG!!!"

"Sensei!" a girl shouted. Iruka whirled about to glare at Naruto. What he saw shocked him: the gag was soaked red, and it was spreading quickly. Naruto's eyes were growing dark, but a tinge of panic still invaded their edges.

"NARUTO!!!" Iruka hollered at the top of his lungs, genuine panic flooding his voice until the other students started to wonder. Had they 1. not known that the class clown was faking and 2. known what was inside him, they probably would have panicked as well.

"Naruto, hang in there!" The instructor grabbed Naruto's shoulders and shook him. The boy's head lolled to the side and he gurgled some more. He ripped off the gag and way too much "blood" spewed out of the kid's mouth.

"Ugh!" for a moment, Iruka jerked away. He'd heard the stories: the kyuubi child's blood was said to be highly corrosive, an acid that burns nothing but human flesh. The motion caused Naruto to slip to the side, and his head made a dull **thud** on the tiled floor. His teacher immediately regretted letting go.

_WHAT IS SO BAD ABOUT ME??? _Naruto screamed in his mind.

There was a long moment of silence as Iruka thought about what he had done. Still, the terror of that night came flooding back to him. _Oh Naruto, how can I help you when I'm still afraid of you? I'm just like everybody else in this village, _he thought bitterly.

"YEAH!!!" somebody shouted suddenly, and the room came to life.

"All right! That was awesome!" somebody agreed.

"Does this mean our class's grades will go up?"

"All I can say is, it took him long enough."

"We're free!"

Although nobody heard it, Shikamaru muttered, "They're disgusting," and Kiba and Chouji silently agreed. They were the only ones in the room though.

"All of you SHUT UP!!!" ...besides Iruka, of course. "You don't know what Naruto is! He won't die anytime soon, not from something like this!"

"What Naruto is" was just a slip of the tongue, but it completely reversed what Iruka had wanted to say. When he looked back, the lines on Naruto's cheeks were twice their normal thickness. However, after a few tense moments they reverted to normal.

"Ha ha ha!" Naruto sat up suddenly. "I got all of you at once! You're all a bunch of idiots!"

"We all know it was fake blood Naruto. You're the idiot," the boy who had started it told him. Naruto's grin weakened for a moment, then came back full force.

"Sure ya did."

His opponent stood up and pointed at him. "Sensei, are we supposed to feel 'a sense of camaraderie' for this person? All he ever does is try to ruin class and make us miserable."

"W-well, of course you are." Iruka didn't say it loud enough, so once again the effect was the opposite of what he wanted.

"So how come nobody actually _does_?" The words rang out in the classroom and seemed to echo for a moment. Then he continued.

"If it doesn't fight like a konoha-nin, learn like a konoha-nin, look like a konoha-nin, or even _bathe_ like a konoha-nin, can it still even be called that? Stop defending this _thing_, sensei. Do you expect me to believe that _he_ feels a connection with _us_?"

Naruto couldn't take much more, but he wasn't beaten yet. "Maybe I do," he said suddenly. His eyes flickered to the third row, for one instant betraying himself.

The ringleader caught it, and turned slowly in that direction. "Sakura, do you like Naruto back?" he asked abruptly.

"What?" she asked, surprised.

"He has a huge crush on you, and everybody else knows it. Do you feel the same way about him?"

Naruto finally lost his grin, and gave her a hollow look.

"Eww! No way! Naruto likes...that's so gross!" The class roared with laughter. Naruto just ran. After a few seconds, Iruka followed him, but catching him now was very impossible.

When the laughter had stopped and Sakura was still blushing a little, somebody asked, "So, is class over?"

"It was a pointless class anyway," a new voice said. Someone went 'kyaa' as Sasuke spoke for the first time. He opened his eyes, took his feet off the desk and stood up.

"People choose who they like and who they don't like for the stupidest of reasons," he continued on the way to the door. "A lecture on how pitiful that is isn't going to change it at all."

He seemed more angry than usual. When he stepped out of the door, more than one girl, Sakura included, was thinking how cute he is when he's angry.

* * *

On second thought, the first few chapters are just introduction so I should post them all quickly. It wouldn't be cool to leave you with just this much.


	3. The moment of truth

**Chapter 3: The moment of truth**

"Are we almost there yet?"

"Just over this hill, my lord."

"Excellent." Tohno urged his cream-colored charger forward, cresting the hill before the rest of his entourage. It had taken the whole three days to travel to Konoha, and Viral estimated the opportunity would come in less than four hours.

Still, he decided to ask again. "How close are we to the correct time, Oracle?"

Viral sighed, coming up beside him on his coal-black horse. "It is difficult to tell. His future has been shifting radically in the last few hours. Something must have happened that I failed to see before."

"I see. I will be most displeased if this venture turns out to be a waste of time."

"We should still succeed, but out of caution I ask that I be the one to meet him."

"What?" the young lord asked sharply. "We agreed that _I_ get to do it."

"As I just said, I am concerned. A person like me will be able to deal with the unexpected better, and so I would like to take your place." The seer received another scrutinizing look from Tohno. It need only be at first," he added.

"Very well then."

They rode on for another hour, and it began to get dark. Then Viral suddenly sat bolt upright in his saddle.

"What is it?" the servant girl Shikasa asked. It was her job to pay attention to the seer whenever Tohno didn't feel like it.

"The schedule is shifting again," he said simply. "I need to go right now." He whipped the reigns and galloped forward. A cry behind him announced Tohno had seen him, so he could only hope Shikasa relayed his message quickly. Then, a few hundred feet ahead, he turned to the left and rode off the path. It was the only way to reach Naruto in time.

* * *

Iruka strode around an old cabin in the woods, looking for Naruto. With the whole town on the hunt, he just _had_ to reach the kyuubi child first.

A twig snapped and he whirled, but there was nobody there. Silently cursing, he dashed away to search elsewhere.

On the other side of the building, Naruto was standing still with a hand clapped over his mouth. Words and pictures streamed through Viral's mind as he whispered for the academy student to be quiet.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked when his sensei was gone.

"I guess I'm nobody right now," Viral mused. "But I want to be your friend."

"What do you mean?"

The oracle sighed. "Naruto, I can see the future, or at least bits of the future. Only the sad bits, actually."

"That sounds depressing."

"It is. I came here to save you, because something terrible is about to happen to you."

Naruto had to take a minute to process this information. "You saw something sad...in my future?"

_He's sharper than I thought, from seeing his futures._

"Yes, I did. You're going to be killed tonight, for stealing the sacred scroll."

"WHAT!?"

Viral clapped a hand on his mouth again. "Quiet!" he hissed urgently.

"Wait, wait...you mean this thing?" Naruto pointed to the massive scroll on his back.

"Yes, that's it. They're all looking for you as we speak."

"But it's just a fancy training scroll. Mizuki-sensei said-"

"He lied. That scroll is full of forbidden jutsu, and he tricked you into stealing it. Now he plans to come find you and kill you, and take the scroll for himself."

"What?" Naruto breathed.

"He hates you, Naruto. Just like everyone else in this accursed village." Viral actually had to wipe away a tear, he had seen so many terrible things in the boy's various bad futures. "When the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, the fourth Hokage used a jutsu to seal it inside of you. That's what the seal on your stomach means, and that's why everyone hates you."

The Junchuuriki actually took it in stride, nodding as the pieces fell together. "I really can't be their comrade," he said softly. He felt overwhelmingly sad, until he remembered Iruka jerking away from him in fear. Then it started turning into bitterness and anger.

"Watching you grow up in such pain, I couldn't just stand by anymore. Even if you live through this fight you'll have so many more chances to be killed."

Naruto was still for a moment, then he leaned over and buried his face in Viral's black cloak. The oracle wasn't surprised by the deep sobs that came out, and he felt like he was suffering with the boy.

"That's it, let it out now. I can only see the bad things in your life, so I've seen much more than I ever wanted. Now we'll start the good things happening, so many that I can't even see your future anymore. Will you come with me?"

Naruto continued to cry for a few minutes, then he pulled back and silently considered the offer.

"Yeah, I'll do it," he said at last.

"Okay, but we have to hurry now. I've got-"

**Thunk.** A dark shape buried itself in his cloak, not unlike Naruto had done, but this was much smaller and made of metal. A different kind of tears slowly started to spread outward from the wound.

"Uh...ugh." Viral clutched the kunai and yanked it out. The wound was in his shoulder, not fatal but the blood loss could be life-threatening.

Naruto started, but didn't know what to do.

"H-hey, get down!" The seer flung himself on top of Naruto, and a flurry of knives landed where he'd been.

"Funny," he mumbled after a moment. "Looks like those were meant for me instead."

"Old man!" Naruto cried from under his cloak.

"The name's Viral, and I'm not old!" He rolled off of Naruto and tried to stand. A sandal kicked him swiftly in the jaw, and he went down.

"Viral-san!" Naruto cried again.

"Well, well, who's this?" Mizuki asked, standing over them. "Why would a merchant wear all black? You must be a spy or something, obviously an enemy of Konoha. I'll have no choice but to bring you in for interrogation."

"Mizuki-sensei," Naruto breathed, cycling through what he'd been told again. "Mizuki-sensei, he's not an enemy!"

The white-haired instructor looked at him coldly. "Oh look, there's another one. And you've just confessed to being on his side so you can't can't call yourself a Konoha-nin _now._ You even failed your test today, so you're neither from Konoha nor a ninja."

Naruto was silent, still digesting the information.

"But hey, give me back the scroll you stole and I'll put in a good word for you! Maybe they won't kick you out of the academy for good!" Stooping, he grabbed Viral's collar and dragged him to his feet.

"Mizuki-sensei, let that man go," Naruto said darkly. Mizuki eyed him carefully.

"You don't give the orders, kid. Now _you_ give _me_ that scroll."

"Naruto..." Viral coughed. "The fourth gave you the ability to control the Kyuubi's chakra. That's why they're all so afraid of you-GUH!" Mizuki silenced him with a jab to the ribs.

"He gave me what!?" Naruto was so surprised his anger faded slightly. Mizuki threw the oracle to the ground and strode toward his student with a dark look on his face.

Viral knew he had to continue, so he was able to. "None of them want you to know..._cough_...that you have the power to change this world."

"That's a load of bunk!" Mizuki shouted at the top of his voice. "The Kyuubi's stuffed in there so tightly, you'll never be anything but a mis-placed klutz!"

Naruto could hear the fear in his voice, and for the first time he connected it with the sting of the man's insults. It was true, it was all true!

"You're going DOWN!!" he growled, and launched himself at his teacher. He swung a fist at the man's face, but met only air as Mizuki disappeared. A split-second later he felt a blade cut into his side.

Naruto cried out in pain as he sank to his knees. A small river of blood trickled from the wound as he tried to stop it with his hands.

"There, see?" Mizuki said to himself. "Just a brat. Nothing to be afraid of..."

"NARUTO!" Viral cried. "He's going to kill you! He's going to end your life right now unless you do something!"

"What can I do?" the boy snapped back suddenly. "You said I have this power but it didn't work! I'll always be a screw-up!"

"No you won't!!! You've already learned the Kage-Bunshin, right? It's an A-class jutsu that usually only Jounin can learn. Mizuki here can't even use it!"

"He can't?" Naruto asked. Tears were running down his face from the pain in his side, but he quickly wiped them away. Mizuki, meanwhile, was stunned by Viral's words and had stopped approaching.

"This village doesn't want you! It threw you away, treated you like trash and let out its frustrations on you. But you don't need them! You can create an entire army of clones! You can be your own village, away from them all!"

"My own village," Naruto said darkly. "That sounds like fun." he quickly made the seals for Kage Bunshin.

"Like that'll ever happen, brat!" Mizuki screamed, dashing toward him. "You'll die right here, alone just like you've always been!"

As he swung his massive shuriken downward, it stopped suddenly. A trio of Narutos had gripped his arm, one on each side and one crouching below him.

"Hey, don't kill him, he's my friend," one of them said.

"Yeah, we're from the same village. You take on one of us, you get us all."

"Wha!?" Then a fist landed on Mizuki's cheek and sent him sprawling.

"What do you think you're doing to our comrade, eh?" said the leader of a group of Narutos.

"Yeah!" "Yeah!"

Spinning around, Mizuki beheld a swarm of Naruto clones. Hundreds of them gathered on tree branches above hundreds more on the ground. "That's impossible!" he shouted.

"Everybody," Naruto spoke up, getting to his feet. A pair of clones were peeling back his jacket to tend to his wound. A few feet away, three more clones were helping Viral.

"We have an enemy in our village. Get rid of him."

* * *

*sigh* Okay, I'm still posting. I really wanted to be lazy and stretch them out, but as AutumnCherry pointed out the story hasn't even started yet with what I've posted. I'll get back to work, and keep these things coming.


	4. Man with the plan

**Chapter 4: Man with the plan**

"Is this him?" Tohno asked. "He's much younger than I imagined."

"He is the one, my lord."

"I'm so glad you were on time to save him. When you suddenly bolted like that I thought..."

"You thought I was running away, my lord."

"Well, I can't deny it. I was pleased to hear that that wasn't the case."

"Umm, who is this guy?" Naruto asked the oracle standing behind him.

"He is the one who wanted me to save you," Viral replied.

Naruto looked suspicious. "You said it was your idea to come find me." One of Tohno's eyebrows shot up.

"Yes, but I am Tohno-sama's retainer. I could not make the journey alone, and so he ordered me to accompany him here."

_In other words,_ Naruto thought, _He paid for the trip so he wants the credit. He probably expects something from me as well._

"Listen, child," Tohno began, and Naruto bristled. "Ah, forgive me. Naruto, I want you to travel with us."

"Where are you going?"

"We aren't going anywhere, we're just going to travel."

Viral coughed suddenly. "My lord, if you'll excuse me I will take my leave. I need to rest and recover from my wound."

"Yes, yes, of course! Get as much rest as you need. I'll be calling upon your services shortly.

When the dark-robed man had left the room, Tohno turned his attention fully onto Naruto.

"Viral has told me about the terrible things that have and will befall you living in Konoha. I want to offer you a better life, a life more suited to someone with your immense power."

"Yeah, the power bit," Naruto prompted. "I want to hear more about it."

"Well I know little more than what Viral has told you, but it seems the Kyuubi has been sealed within you, and its chakra will begin to be available for you to use as you get older. Recently, he saw a vision in which the seal was weakened by an unsealing jutsu, and he believes he is capable of repeating the process."

"So I'm gonna get strong in a couple years no matter what, but you want me to work for you in exchange for making me strong now?"

"Urk...well, that about sums it up, save for one key detail: if you don't get strong now, you may very well be dead long before it happens naturally." Tohno smiled as he lay down his last ace.

Naruto looked both sour and troubled. After a while he conceded.

"I'll do it."

"Excellent! I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time together."

"Sure," Naruto mumbled sarcastically, then turned to go.

He almost ran into Viral, who was on his way back in.

"Are you okay?" the blond boy asked. The oracle was panting heavily.

"My lord," he began, "There has been a massive shift in the future. So many new visions are open to me, I must speak with you at once!"

"Guards, leave us," Tohno ordered. The two men stepped out of the tent, and Naruto started to follow.

"Naruto, you should stay as well," the young lord decided. "We can learn of the future together."

Viral was looking pale. "First, my lord...your men are all honest, but not all are loyal. When they see what you have planned, Crom will attempt to stop you. Only three members of your guard will stand against him."

Tohno cursed suddenly and violently. "Bah! They're all _too_ honest then. We'll need to find some lesser men to replace them. And what else is there?"

"Right, the village will send hunters after Naruto." All three of them shuddered as he said it. Naruto looked like he was going to be sick. "I cannot find a future where we leave peacefully...if we leave right away."

"What do you mean?"

"If we stay in the village for a while, and impress on them that Naruto is too destructive to have around. They will exile him within a month, but no major attempts will be made on his life."

Tohno sighed. "Why do I even bother making plans when you're not around? Is there anything else?"

For a moment, Viral was surprised. The young master had always doubted him, never lost a chance to sound unconvinced before. Apparently, he had finally been convinced that the sight was real.

"No, that is all. And now I really must get that rest...provided I don't predict being bitten by insects all night long." He gave a weary smile, and Tohno laughed out loud. Naruto chuckled.

"Aren't you going, Naruto?" Tohno asked when the seer was gone.

"Oh, right, going..." Naruto looked down at his feet.

"Yes, going to bed. Your tent is next to Viral's. I took the liberty of having a late-night snack prepared for you. I also ordered Shikasa to wait on you until we can find you a servant of you own."

Naruto's eyes bugged out. "Yes, sir!" He turned and dashed after Viral, grinning widely.

* * *

What are you talking about? 11:20 is still the morning! It's thanksgiving, I don't have to post at 6 in the morning to call it a "morning post!"

I hit a rough patch in chapter 6, but after a while I was able to smooth it out. My writing now proceeds on schedule again.

In completely unrelated news, I've been going through my friend's extensive techno music collection while writing this. The thing with techno music is, most of it is really bad in my opinion. A handful of techno songs are amazing, because they have this incredible beat that they repeat long enough for you to enjoy it, but they switch out before you get bored. Unfortunately, 85% of all techno music fails at getting the right balance: either the beat isn't distinctive enough or it repeats too softly and too long. Also, a lot of it's meant to be played in the background at a club, so it only sounds good on massive speakers.

My point in all this is that if you want to listen to good techno without spending hours weeding out the inferior stuff, your best choice is to get a friend to suggest stuff for you. And since I'm bored, I'm gonna suggest some of it right here and now. Most of these can be found on youtube:

"Kiss the Rain" - triplestar remix.

"A good vibe" by Sten F.

"norwegian rebel" by DJ spash.

"better off alone" - most remixes are better than the original.

These are by far the best techno I've heard out of the last 250-some songs. I feel compelled to share their awesomeness with the world.


	5. Letting them all know

**Chapter 5: Letting them all know**

A pair of ninja sat at a booth, manning the checkpoint. In other words, one was sleeping while his friend read a novel. Normally this booth was empty, but with the commotion three nights ago Konoha's security was out in force.

Hearing someone approach, the reader sighed and inserted his kunai as a bookmark. But when he looked up he froze, and his face grew pale.

"Hey, what's up!?" Naruto asked with just a hint of malice. He was wearing black pants and a black tunic. A series of orange "slash marks" went up the sides of the outfit, mirroring the whisker marks on his face, and there was a small orange swirl on his stomach that mirrored the black one underneath. The man didn't see right away that there was a larger version of the swirl on the back of the outfit.

What he did notice was the large scroll strapped to Naruto's back.

"Naruto! Stop where you are!" the man shouted, pointing at him with one arm and shaking his friend with the other.

"What the heck, man!?" the friend growled before he saw the Jinchuuriki.

"Thanks for letting me borrow this, I'm returning it now." Naruto never stopped walking, but slipped the strap over his head and leaned the scroll against the booth as he passed.

One of the Konoha-nin flitted over in front of him.

"I'm afraid I can't let you-" Naruto jumped, and for an instant he was completely upside-down above the ninja, one hand on the top of the man's head. The next instant he was on the other side, walking again. The ninja was stunned, seeing as how Naruto was just over half his height. He looked pointedly at his comrade who was fully awake now.

"Naruto, we have orders to capture you." This time they both stood in front of him, kunai held together in front of them.

"No, you have orders to reclaim the scroll and capture me IF it turns out I was the one who stole it," Naruto said coolly as he kept walking toward them. He stopped when his neck was an inch away from their kunai.

"First, you can't prove that I stole it. Second, whether I did or not, I just returned it to you. It's much more valuable to the village than I am," he added bitterly but sarcastically. He waited a few seconds while they considered, locking eyes with one, then the other. He could tell they were unsure of what to do.

"...And third, right now the two of you couldn't stop me if you tried, and then there'd be nobody to take back the scroll. It'd just be sitting there, waiting to be stolen."

Both men shivered, then one lowered his knife. Turning to the other, he asked, "Maybe he's right, in the end the scroll _is_ more important-"

Naruto lashed out against the other ninja faster than either could see. He punched the man's forehead protector hard enough to send him flying. The man who had been speaking watched his friend skid to a stop and groan deeply. Whatever he'd been about to say lodged in his throat and stayed there.

"There, problem solved." Naruto started walking again, albeit a bit faster than before. "One ninja needed to take back the scroll, one ninja _able_ to take back the scroll. I love math!"

* * *

"All right, settle down." Iruka looked tiredly at the genin arrayed before him. How he'd wanted to see Naruto among them, but he just couldn't find the boy! A pair of dark rings beneath his eyes told the world that he'd certainly tried, but with no success. And there was what happened with Mizuki! He shuddered, remembering the array of broken bones the man suffered. Still, Mizuki was alive and would someday recover. He certainly wouldn't forget it though, with all the new scars. So far the instructor hadn't woken up yet, and without the man's testimony, Iruka worried that Naruto would be blamed by the village. They already blamed the boy for everything else around here, probably because most of the stuff actually was Naruto's doing.

"Iruka-sensei, this just feels wrong." It was Shikamaru.

"What does?" Iruka asked, but he didn't really care.

"You put me with Sakura and _Sasuke?_ It feels as if the universe has been arbitrarily twisted around."

"Shikamaru, I know what you're trying to ask. Yes, your grades are in fact the lowest in the class, to be teamed with the best performing student."

"Man, I miss Naruto," the lazy bum pouted. "Even _Ino_ would be better than _Sasuke._"

"What could you possibly miss about that idiot!?" a girl asked incredulously. "He failed his graduation test _again,_ so it's his own fault anyway."

"Yeah, about that, I don't think it counted." Naruto was standing in the door, scowling in at them. Everyone froze.

"NARUTO!!!" Iruka cried yet again. He started over toward the boy, then hesitated.

"Don't worry about me," Naruto sneered. "I'll just take my seat now."

"What's with those clothes?" Shikamaru asked him. "They look...well, new and expensive."

"Yeah." Naruto got a dreamy look on his face for just a second. Then he coughed, returning to his scowl. "My old clothes got...dirty."

"Yeah, but that didn't stop you a week ago," a girl said just loud enough for him to hear. Her friend giggled at the comment.

Naruto looked straight at her and glared daggers. "From now on, if you laugh at me it'll be because I _let_ you."

"Ooh, scary. This coming from the guy who can't make a bunshin."

"N-naruto, I'm glad to see you're alright but you really shouldn't be here," Iruka said quietly.

"Yeah, this is the room for graduates now!" another student added.

Naruto flashed everyone in the room a chilling smile. "I'm retaking my test, as of right now."

His hands were a blur as he completed the seals for Kage Bunshin. A moment later, a perfect copy of himself stepped forward out of his body. The original held the position as a second clone came out, while the first clone started counting, pointing at the genin as he did.

"37, what an ugly number," he said when he was done. The original Naruto nodded, and suddenly a flurry of clones erupted from his back. The first clone strode over to Iruka, tapped him on the forehead, and instantly became a perfect copy of the instructor. Nobody said anything as the horde of clones eyed the class hungrily.

"Banzai!!!" they all cried playfully, and rushed his classmates. There was a great deal of shouting and clamoring as each clone approached a student and copied them flawlessly. It was over in less than a minute, and then there was utter chaos.

"Woah, when did you learn that?" Shikamaru asked. "Stupid clone, don't act so impressed," mumbled the other one.

"Oh, Sasuke!" Ino shouted, rushing into the arms of the bird-haired teen. They proceeded to kiss passionately as the real Ino babbled and the real Sasuke frowned.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make!" shouted the girl who had insulted Naruto. She jumped up on her desk and slowly started to take off her clothes while the real one tried to grab her ankles.

The boy who had taunted Naruto the other day began pummeling his original, while many of his friends' clones did the same. Iruka's clone rushed in to stop the brawl, but instead started trying to relieve them of their pants.

Of course, a few clones were less rowdy. Hinata's clone just sat there and drooled on the desk, while Neji's started to take off his headband. The Hyuuga immediately destroyed the clone, but he was the only one who succeeded.

"They're so tough!" one of the boys shouted, punching a copy of himself that swore it was the real one.

At the front of the class, Naruto was laughing hysterically. Iruka simply watched until the boy stopped abruptly and, with another deep scowl on his face, quietly walked to the front of the room. After a few more seconds of fun, all the clones disappeared at the same instant.

"So," The boy's voice echoed in the suddenly-quiet room. "About that laughing thing...not without my permission, got it?" He then strode up the center of the classroom and sat in the empty seat next to Sakura. She shirked away a bit, but he turned to her and smiled with an unusual warmth. On her other side, Sasuke studied him with bitter reluctance.

"Sasuke, Sakura," he nodded at them. "Let's be friends, okay?"

* * *

Yeah, so I'm irresponsible to the point that I can't keep a posting schedule. The story's really starting to happen now, and I actually have to pay attention to where I'm going. These chapters will probably be more fun to read, so nobody can complain if they take longer, right?

Right?

I wouldn't actually mind complaints, you know. Watching the hit counter go up isn't enough to keep me motivated, I need reviews! Heck, "great chapter update soon," is one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me. O.Q

Well, not exactly but it shows more appreciation than the rest of the crowd who can't even be bothered to make that much effort.

In any case, I don't think I can actually do a 2-post-per-day schedule, so I'll have to cut it back to daily. Unless I get a bunch of reassuring feedback, say 10 reviews that say "GCUS" (short for "Great Chapter, Update Soon.") If you're out there, four letters isn't that hard is it?


	6. What goes on inside a young girl's head

**Chapter 6: What goes on inside a young girl's head**

Sakura squinted up at the sun, silently wishing it were gone. Then her gaze wandered, and she caught sight of something else yellow that she wished were gone.

It all started a week ago, apparently. Naruto had been Naruto for the longest time, he messed around and pulled pranks, then failed his graduation test. Next year, repeat. Next year, repeat, etc.

Not all students at the academy are the same age, so it wasn't unusual to have a younger or older person at the same level as you. Apparently Naruto started younger than most people, so in the end he was only a year and a half older than her.

But anyway, a week ago, Naruto tried to trick the class with a fake blood packet. It was a few days before the graduation test, so everybody was a little on edge. The prank backfired on him, but he refused to admit he'd lost. He just kept on going like an idiot, and in the end maybe they were a little harsh. She hadn't actually been paying attention before Taiga asked her about the blond-haired boy.

It wasn't her fault he liked her, in fact it really had nothing to do with her. Naruto was annoying, plain and simple. Harmless maybe, but still a pain in the neck.

Then she heard he'd failed the test again, and even though she felt a little bad it wasn't the end of the world. Now he was the next class's problem.

The day after the test, there was a rumor going around that Naruto was in big trouble, and even Shikamaru asked her in passing if she'd seen the prankster. If that guy didn't know, it meant something serious was going on. She also heard that Mizuki sensei was hospitalized, and some people even went as far as to say it was connected to Naruto. Sakura had just ignored those people though, it was just too far-fetched. The boy was obviously just sulking for a few days, maybe stepping up his pranks a bit but nothing like what happened to their teacher.

Then of course he showed up and did his very best to intimidate the class. He'd crossed so many lines there was no way he'd become friends with them now. Sakura shuddered at the memory of a clone that looked just like herself taking a kunai to her long, pink hair and jaggedly cutting it short.

And yet, he felt different now. Sure he'd been a jerk, but he'd done it with an advanced jutsu nobody else could do. That black outfit seemed to give him confidence_ and_ strength, where before he'd just had an inflated ego with nothing to back it up. Everyone was glaring at him, but nobody laughed when he sat down next to her and said they'd be on a three-man team together.

The odd thing was, he was right. Iruka announced the change a few minutes later, even though the teacher didn't seem to have heard Naruto when he called it. A group of Jounin had entered the room, each calling out their three new students and leaving in turn. Team 7, as she, Naruto, and Sasuke now were, were told to wait for their instructor outside, by the entrance. That was two hours ago, and Sakura had had a long time to think about the boy sitting silently next to her.

Her attention drifted sideways until she was looking him up and down. She had to admit, the new clothes made him look older and more powerful, but he was still an inch shorter than she was. _Really, what happened to him in the last three days?_ Heck, even the look on his face looked much more mature than usual. That was because there wasn't a hint of dopey smile on it, she decided. Since when was his expression so much like Sasuke's?

Naruto caught her staring and blushed slightly. He turned away for an instant and she thought he was hiding a grin. Then he must have reconsidered, because he whipped his head around to face her, and with a basilisk's eyes he demanded, "What?"

Immediately, Sakura was back to wishing he was gone. Her face flushed with anger as she saw Sasuke's disinterested look on the other side of the blond genin. Naruto had deliberately sat down next to Sasuke in a way that forced her to take his other side, effectively separating her from her love.

Looking away in disgust, for a moment she wondered if Naruto was trying to imitate Sasuke and get her to like him. The thought was flattering at first, but thinking about it soon made her mad. What right did he have to do that!? He should keep his own rotten personality instead of going after Sasuke's.

"Hello!" a vibrant voice said suddenly. A white-haired jounin with his forehead protector pulled down over one eye appeared in front of them.

"You're late!" Sakura shouted at him, then realized she was the only one saying it. Sasuke was one thing, but she'd at least expected Naruto to be frustrated with her.

"Yes, sorry about that. I promise it won't happen again."

"Pfft!" Naruto said scornfully. "If you want to meet at a later time, just say so and we'll show up then."

"Oh...I suppose that makes sense." Their new instructor scratched the back of his head. Sakura stared at her blond teammate with wide eyes, while Sasuke just 'hmph'ed his approval.

"Now, let's have introductions shall we?" the jounin suggested. "Tell me about yourselves."

"What kind of things do you want to know?" Sakura asked, bewildered.

"Start with your name, then your likes and dislikes, hopes and dreams, that sort of thing."

"We've known each other for a while now," Naruto said. "But we've never met you before. Can you go first?"

"Sure. My name is Hatake Kakashi, and I dislike talking about my likes and dislikes. My dreams would all take too long to explain, but anyway, I have lots of hobbies."

Naruto couldn't help grinning. "So basically, all we learned is your name."

"Would you like to go next?" Kakashi asked him.

"I'll pass for now. I've got a lot to say."

The other three all raised an eyebrow at his answer, but let it slip.

"The young lady, then."

"My name is Haruno Sakura, and the thing I like, well it's not a thing, it's a person. That person is..." she paused for a moment and blushed, then continued.

"Let's move on to my dream..." Sakura drifted off again. She'd been about to say she hated Naruto, but suddenly it seemed like a very bad idea. I mean, if he really did like her it would be cruel to say it.

"My hobbies are cooking and sewing," she ended abruptly with a cheap smile.

"I see." Kakashi swept his gaze across Naruto and onto Sasuke. "And our dark-haired friend?"

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike many things, but it doesn't matter because there's really nothing I like. I don't like the word 'dream,' but I have an ambition: the restoration of my clan, and...to kill a certain man."

Sakura looked at him in awe. _He's so cool!_

Naruto just frowned. _It better not be me, _he was thinking.

Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment. "Right, and now the for the middle guy," he finally said. "You talked it up, now make it good."

"Right!" Naruto suddenly bubbled with enthusiasm.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I like cup ramen! What I dislike is the time it takes for the water to boil so I can make the ramen! And until a few days ago, my dream was to become the Hokage!"

All of a sudden, his friendly attitude faded and he slumped forward with a bitter scowl. "But then I learned that when I was born, a sealing jutsu was used on me that made my chakra nearly impossible to control. Then Mizuki sensei tricked me and tried to kill me, so I beat him half to death in self-defense."

Sakura and Kakashi were now staring at him, wide-eyed. Even Sasuke was paying attention to him for once.

"So forget about protecting this rat-hole of a village. I'm gonna cause so much destruction they'll have to exile me, because if I leave on my own they'll hunt me down and kill me. With the seal partially gone, my strength jumped to around Jounin level, so this team is basically a formality for me."

When he was done, nobody spoke for a while. Sakura was reeling from the revelation that Naruto really was involved with Mizuki-sensei's injuries. Sasuke studied him with a mix of bitterness and a little respect.

Kakashi was the most upset. He knew about the Kyuubi seal and what it meant to weaken it. This kid was getting into a lot more trouble than he knew. However, after a minute of contemplation, he decided nothing could be done about it right now.

"Well, that's all for today I guess. Tomorrow we'll be doing survival exercises, so show up bright and early. And I suggest you don't eat breakfast first, it's going to be rough. With that, he waved and walked away.

_What an irresponsible teacher,_ Sakura thought. To her right, Sasuke grunted and stood up. Without a word, the bird-haired ninja started walking away as well. Sakura jumped to her feet. After all that had happened, she still wasn't going to miss her chance.

"Sasuke-kun, now that we're on a team together, would you like to hang out?"

Sasuke paused, then turned slowly and gave her a withering glare. After a moment he let up on it, but still answered, "No, not today."

As he walked away, Sakura heard Naruto getting to his feet behind her.

"Listen, Sakura..." the blond genin started.

"Naruto, I don't want to hear it."

"Hey, wait!" he cried, following her as she turned to go. When she ignored him, he continued.

"Sakura, the things that guy said a few days ago...they weren't...I mean..."

_Oh, so he's backpedaling._ It felt so unusual for Naruto to act like a normal boy. _Well, in that case I'll let him. It'll make things sooo much simpler around here._

Sakura turned around abruptly, so that Naruto almost ran into her. He rocked back on his heels, but they were both suddenly too nervous to say anything about it.

"So, what do you have to say to me?" Sakura asked with just a hint of expectation.

"R-right. When that guy said, that I like you," Naruto nervously scuffed the dirt with his foot. "Well...it's absolutely true."

"Huh?"

"It really sucks that you found out that way, but I'm not gonna back out of it now. You're probably just going to think it's annoying, but I wouldn't be a man if I just let things continue like normal."

"Uh..." Sakura was struck dumb. This situation was right on the border between crazy romantic and crazy disgusting. Maybe it was just crazy.

"So yeah," Naruto suddenly put his arms on her shoulders, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. She panicked for a second before he opened his eyes again and smiled at her.

"Sakura, I really like you. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"O-okay," she replied shakily. For some reason, she just couldn't stop herself.

They both blinked in surprise. "Wow, really?"

Naruto looked like he was going to explode trying not to look excited. A voice inside Sakura screamed at her, and she fully realized what she'd just said. She obviously _didn't_ want to be Naruto's girlfriend, in fact it was ranked somewhere between shaving her head and sleeping naked on a frozen lake. Even now, she felt disgusted looking at him, especially that look of...

...unbridled joy. What was he so happy about anyway!? She had no intention of dating this brat...

...that she just agreed to date.

Sakura opened her mouth, then shut it again. She wanted so badly to just slap him and tell him no, but she had to have a reason, and she just couldn't find one. He was a jerk, but he wasn't being a jerk right now. He was a slob, an ugly slob with the mind of a little kid, but looking at him right now she couldn't remember why she thought he was any of those things.

"Hey, are you okay, he said finally." Realizing he was still holding her by the shoulders, he blushed and lowered his arms.

"Did you accidentally say 'okay' even though you meant 'no'?"

In what must have been a one in a million shot, Naruto pinned down the truth. Sakura felt like he'd put a spike through her heart. She felt her previous opinion of him take hold for a moment, and spoke without thinking again.

"What's that supposed to mean? Do you think I'd randomly say yes to something like that when I didn't want to!?" _Even though I just did,_ she realized dimly in the back of her mind. "Of course I meant it!"

Naruto looked at her in surprise for a moment, and a feeling of horror started to creep into her mind.

"Okay, I believe you," he said finally. "Umm...Tohno-san gave me some money to spend, do you want to go someplace tonight?"

"Oh, tonight? I can't, I have...to help my mom make dinner, she already asked me. Maybe some other time." Sakura squirmed uncomfortably as he looked at her again.

"Sure, that's fine. Guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Right, tomorrow."

As she was walking away, Sakura chanced a look back. Naruto had gone in the other direction, and as she watched he looked back as well. Their eyes met, and he gave her a goofy smile again. He looked so much like the old Naruto for an instant, she considered shouting at him that she was just joking.

Instead, she just smiled weakly at him before continuing on her way home. _It really is impossible to know what goes on inside a young girl's head,_ she thought bitterly. She didn't know it, but that's exactly what Naruto was thinking behind her.

* * *

So I understand that I look like the most irresponsible writer ever, making promises left and right and then breaking them just as often. This time I have an excuse though: my laptop's motherboard failed. It went bye-bye. I had been worrying about it, so I actually put all my writing on a thumb drive before it happened, which is why this chapter is here at all. Thirty seconds after writing this, I will go get in the car and drive to Best Buy to get a new one (I absolutely need to have one for college), but I still have a bunch of work to do that will take away from my posting schedule.

feel my pain and review! It'll help restore my wounded heart or something like that... I lost a lot of stuff other than my writing. Q.Q


	7. Lord of the Crypt

**Lord of the Crypt**

"Hey, Viral-San, tell me about the exercise tomorrow. I'm gonna ace it!"

The dark-robed oracle sighed and cracked open an eye. He immediately saw Naruto making a face at him, and had to chuckle.

"I don't know if I should, Naruto-kun. All you did today was show off."

"But if I don't do better than everyone expects me to, Konoha won't decide I'm dangerous enough to be exiled, riiight?"

"It would take me _days_ to list the many different ways this could backfire."

"I'm willing to take that risk," Naruto replied casually. "And besides, it's really fun being at the top of the class for once."

_But at what cost? _Viral wondered silently. A second later he decided to voice his concern.

"Naruto-kun, I think you're advancing too quickly."

"There's definitely no such thing," the blond genin stated. "I'm just now realizing how weak I really am right now!"

"Yes, but if you grow too fast you'll earn the hatred of your classmates."

Naruto frowned. "You've seen the future. They'll hate me no matter what I do, right?"

Viral looked uncomfortable, but said nothing.

"See?" Naruto said darkly. "Viral, I appreciate you trying to help me that way, but **don't,** okay? We both know it's futile."

"If you have to give something up and you still don't win their approval, it's all a waste. But this time it's different. Holding back costs you _nothing,_ but it may help your relationships in the long run. Something for nothing is always a good deal, and I strongly suggest you take it."

Naruto looked thoughtful for a whole minute, and Viral marveled at how fast the boy was turning out differently from his previous future.

"Well, we'll just have to work on tomorrow until we find the best way to do it, then!"

"Naruto!"

"Pleeeeaasse?"

The oracle smiled grimly. After all the debating, that stupid grin always got him. It wasn't fair that he was always drenched in scenes of this boy's painful death.

"Oh, alright then."

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped up in the air triumphantly. Viral felt the kid's enthusiasm working on him.

"Tomorrow's 'exercise' is a challenge in which you have to steal a pair of bells from your instructor..."

* * *

"You two seem to be having a good time."

Naruto and Viral both turned to see Tohno entering the clearing. Trailing him were Shikasa and a burly man neither of them remembered seeing before.

"Young master!" Viral looked uncomfortable. "We were just practicing a jutsu from the forbidden scroll."

The strange man scoffed. "You lie. I know for a fact that the scroll was returned today."

"You are correct," Viral told him with a faint smirk. "But what if Naruto were to go steal the scroll tomorrow? He would be hunted down and killed, but it is possible he would first reach me and show it to me."

Comprehension dawned on Naruto, and a look of awe came onto his face. The stranger still had a look of scorn. "What does _tomorrow_ have to do with today?"

"Oh, it has _everything_ to do with today, as long as I can see it."

"I think our friend needs a demonstration," Tohno announced cheerfully. "Naruto, show him."

"Are you sure? Viral-San says it's not safe yet..." the boy looked at his teacher, who nodded once. "Okay then!"

Naruto looked to the side, inspecting an area clear of trees. Viral motioned for the others to be silent, and tiptoed over to get out of his student's way.

After a minute spent studying the clearing, Naruto finally started toward it. He counted in his head, marking the time and length of each footstep until they were perfectly even. As soon as they were, he started to speed up the tempo.

His audience watched in tense silence as he broke into a run, grimacing with the force of his concentration.

"Acid footsteps no jutsu!" he cried, and when his foot came up the ground was black beneath it. Naruto ran a few more feet, leaving a trail of sizzling black footprints, then gave a strangled shout.

"Deadly earth no jutsu!!!"

On the exact same step, two things happened: first, a pair of clones burst out of Naruto on each side and ran alongside him, both leaving acid footprints as well. Second, the footprints started to fill with what looked like a black liquid. Within seconds, these had overflowed and begun to coat the ground.

Naruto split a second time, and continued to run in sync with himself. Viral's heart rose to his throat as the boy executed the third split and the original stumbled slightly. He sighed in relief as Naruto skipped a step and got back in line with the clones.

The four clones and Naruto suddenly split up, running in a very specific pattern that only Viral recognized. The ground beneath them turned into putrid lines of death as they threaded in a circle. Finally the real Naruto leaped to the side and released his clones. He looked proudly at the dark pattern he'd stitched in the clearing, and raised his hands to complete the third phase of the jutsu.

"Lord of the Crypt!!!" he barked at the top of his lungs, and jumped. He landed squarely at the center of the pattern, and instantly his sandals started to sizzle.

"Whoa!!!" His audience gasped as the black liquid stuck to his feet like tar and he almost lost his balance. Just in time, he seemed to get it under control and the liquid rose up beneath his feet about a foot high. He took a step to regain his balance, and a small pillar rose up in time for him to stumble back and have his foot land on it. Even more black liquid welled up from the lines, forming a pool twenty feet in diameter

Viral let out the breath he'd been holding and turned to Tohno and his guest. "Gentlemen, I give you the 'Lord of the Crypt' no jutsu, a highly forbidden technique that has never before been executed by fewer than three ninja working together. With practice, it can be created in seconds, but, seeing as how this was Naruto's first time completing it, I told him to take his time.

Behind him, Naruto laughed and started running in circles. Everywhere he went, a semi-solid pillar of sludge rose up and formed the exact shape of his sandal one foot above the ground. He reached into a pouch and drew out a kunai, tossing it a few feet away. The instant it touched the black liquid it dissolved in a plume of noxious gas.

Tohno smirked at his guest, who was in a state of awe.

"Are you convinced?" he asked inscrutably.

"Yes," the man said darkly. "I'll hear you out now." In the background, Naruto raised his hands and a spray of black death flew up on either side of him. A cloud of gnats vanished instantly, fizzling into nothingness.

"Good! Shikasa, can you escort out guest to my tent? I will join you shortly, after I confer with my seer."

"Of course. This way, please." She motioned for the man to follow her, which he did.

Naruto was still playing with pure death as Viral came closer.

"Your predictions seem to be getting more detailed as of late," Tohno began.

"Yes, my lord. My visions are becoming more and more detailed, but they are even sadder than before."

"Don't worry about that! You've found a way to improve your ability, there is nothing to for you to do but continue on this path."

"I fear you speak the truth," the oracle said tiredly.

"Of course I do. But there is something else that bothers me."

Viral's mind sparked. "You...believe I am being too soft on the boy?"

"Actually, I...oh! Yes, actually. Talking to you is practically a wasted effort these days! For some reason, you seem bent on him reenacting something like his previous future." Like a squall blowing in, Tohno's face grew dark.

"Y-yes, you could say that I am."

"And just why is that? He didn't need to return to his school, and he didn't need to confess his love to the girl."

"What are you talking about?" Viral asked sharply.

"Ah, I see! In some ways, the Konoha-nin I hired to follow him sees more clearly than you do."

"You do not trust me?"

"You failed to predict something as simple as Naruto asking a girl out on a date?"

Viral was taken aback. "He did what?"

"It would seem you need more practice, 'Viral-san.' I worry about Naruto's future."

Viral looked concerned, but quickly shook off the feeling. "It is of no concern to me who Naruto likes or dislikes."

Tohno leaned in and snarled at him. "It is your ONLY concern! This is a mistake that needs to be corrected! I have other eyes in Konoha, and they tell me the boy is reverting, probably to the way he would have become had we never come in the first place! And you, my friend..." he leaned in close to the oracle and lowered his voice. "You know this, and are actually helping it along. What have you seen?"

Viral's eyes shifted back and forth between his master and the sight of Naruto still experimenting over his shoulder.

"It is still nothing to worry about," he began. Tohno smiled, then backhanded him viciously across the cheek.

"Don't lie to me!!!" he hissed again. Naruto was facing the other way and didn't see it.

"R-Right," Viral choked, holding a hand to his face. "Naruto could become very unstable if he doesn't have any interaction with people his own age. He may not spare us if the Kyuubi takes over. It seemed safest to guide him back to a timeline I can predict easier."

Tohno considered him with menacing eyes, but didn't call the bluff. Viral was secretly becoming more determined to deceive the young man, and better at it as well.

"Very well then."

"Thank you for understanding."

"My preparations are almost done anyway. We shall depart in a few days."

"What? But what about the hunters!?" Viral demanded.

"I believe I have solved the problem."

Tohno had already decided when the conversation would end, and this was it. He stepped crisply around Viral and strode off, leaving his subordinate to realize the implications of what he'd just said.

The seer was distracted from his thoughts by a sudden cry. He jerked back to reality in time to see Naruto stumbling around on a collapsing mound of acid. With one last shout, the boy fell into the muck. Viral watched in horror as the flesh started to melt from the screaming genin's bones.

He blinked, and Naruto was still grinning at him from atop the pool.

"Urgh." The man raised both hands to hold his head as a jolt of pain went through it.

"Are you okay, sensei?" Naruto called.

"Yes…yes, I'm fine." The pain was already subsiding.

"Okay then." Naruto tactfully waited just a few seconds before adding, "Check this out!"

The mounds beneath his feet rose up until he was ten feet off the ground, and he started waving his arms around wildly. The liquid below him splashed around and formed miniature waves that crashed against each other.

"I am the LORD OF THE CRYPT!!!" Naruto boomed. "GAZE UPON ME, AND DESPAIR!!! MUAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

"That's...very good, Naruto. How did you make the thunder and lightning in the background?"

"Uhh…meow?"

"Oh, never mind. Release the jutsu, and we'll take a break. Then we'll practice doing it faster."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

Well, finals are running me ragged and my dead computer ended up having about 1/3 of chapters 7 and 8, so it's tough to rewrite them. Give me a few days and I'll...be working 40 hours a week for Christmas break. But I'll be posting again! For this story and my other! And I have a christmas story cooking as well, so author alert me or something so you can read that one when it comes out.

Once again reviews will encourage me.


	8. Teamwork rules

**Chapter 8: Teamwork rules**

The next morning, Sakura and Sasuke sat waiting. It was already a half-hour after the time they were supposed to meet Kakashi-sensei, and neither their teacher nor their third teammate had shown up yet.

"Well, looks like we could be here for a while," Sakura tried nervously. Sasuke just humphed and looked the other way.

_I am NOT going to lose this!_ She told herself. _It's the perfect chance to get closer to him!_

Sakura faced the other way and started to practice inside her head.

"_Now that we're on the same team, I guess we'll be spending a lot of time together." _imaginary Sakura said casually.

"_Guess so."_ imaginary Sasuke replied.

"_You know, they say teams that hang out when they're not on missions are more likely to succeed."_

Imaginary Sasuke glared at her.

"_Not that you're going to mess up, but I'm a little worried about myself."_ Imaginary Sasuke's eyes softened.

"_Don't worry, you'll do fine. Besides, if things start to look bad I'll protect you."_ A gust of wind carried thousands of imaginary flower petals to swirl around them.

The real Sakura sighed with contentment. Meanwhile, even the imaginary Sasuke suddenly thought to himself, "_I'll protect you?" what, from doing badly? That doesn't even make sense!_

In her moment of bliss, the pink haired girl let her gaze shift slowly back to the boy sitting next to her. There he was, looking into her eyes with that look of…well, Sasuke-ness. _How else can you describe that cool look he's giving me?_

They stared into each others' eyes for a full three seconds before the real Sasuke blushed slightly and looked away. Half a second later Sakura came back to reality, and her pulse quickened.

_We looked into each others' eyes! …which means he was looking at me before I looked back! And then he got uncomfortable!_ Her heart fell for a moment, before jumping back up to excitement. _…Which means he's starting to notice me as a girl!!!_

The girl blushed furiously and studied the ground at her feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Sasuke slowly turned his head back and studied her some more.

"Sakura?" he asked suddenly.

"W-what?" At first she couldn't look at him, then she turned to face him so fast her neck hurt.

"What's up?" she asked dumbly. For a moment he looked severely uncomfortable.

"Uh, never mind," he mumbled. "It's not important."

"Oh. Okay." Sakura's feelings were mixed. They sat in silence for a few more minutes, and then things started to get interesting.

"Hey!" Naruto called out as he appeared around the bend. "Is Kakashi-sensei here yet?"To Sakura's surprise, Sasuke answered first.

"Not yet. Come wait with us," he said with just a hint of sarcasm.

"Okay." Naruto saw that there wasn't room between them, and for a moment was tempted to sit there anyway. In the end he sat next to Sakura.

"What's in the bag?" Sakura asked him.

"Oh, this?" Naruto held up the plastic bag in his hand. Its contents were rectangular. "It's a set of bentos. Shikasa wouldn't let me leave without them," he lied.

"Who is Shikasa? And why so much food?"

"Well, there are two of us, aren't there?" Naruto replied. He had no intention of answering her other question.

"Oh." Suddenly Sakura was extremely aware of Sasuke's glance. "Uh, thank you, but I'm on a diet right now, and Kakashi said…"

"Suit yourself, the offer stands all day." Naruto smirked for some reason.

"Hello!" Kakashi called suddenly, turning the same corner Naruto had.

"You're late," Sasuke growled.

"Yeah, I had to help an old lady cross the street."

The bird-haired teen shot up from the bench. "Do you really think we're that stupid!?"

"What do you mean, 'we?'" Naruto snickered under his breath, just loud enough to be heard. Sasuke whirled, glaring furiously at him, and the yellow haired boy was loving it.

"Don't get cocky, dunce. You got lucky."

"You wanna come closer and say that?" Naruto's mood had darkened instantly. A few tendrils of black smoke erupted from his shoulders and waved like they were tongues of transparent flame.

"Don't…" Sakura tried to diffuse them, but couldn't think of anything. Fortunately Kakashi took over for her.

"Go ahead and fight, boys. I will personally see to it that neither of you touches a leaf headband again for the rest of your lives."

Both genin backed down immediately, but continued to glare at each other.

_They're hopeless,_ the jonin decided. _The chances of these two working together aren't worth mentioning. But I guess they still deserve their test. I feel bad for the girl, they're going to drag her down with them._

"Now, here's the drill," he began. "We'll be holding your second graduation test today. Of you three, one will have to go back to the academy for more training."

"What!?" Sakura shouted. Sasuke was in silent shock, while Naruto was in no shock at all.

_Sasuke's such a jerk, this is the perfect chance to show him up. And in front of my new girlfriend, too! _Naruto was barely listening to the bells explanation. He'd practically memorized it last night. _But I still have to pass, and that takes teamwork. What should I do?_

"And the person who doesn't get a bell, gets no lunch. Instead they'll be tied to the stake while I eat their lunch in front of them."

All three genin's stomachs growled together. Suddenly Naruto's bentos seemed priceless. He shifted the bag slightly so it was hidden better behind the bench.

"Besides the advancement part, of course," their instructor added. Now, you have until noon, when this timer is set to go off." Clicking the timer, he turned and waved the bells at them. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, can I take those bells from you now?" Naruto asked. "Forget noon, this'll be over in five minutes!"

"Naruto, despite what you think, you are not Jonin level," Kakashi explained in a bit of a huff. "Lots of chakra and a bad attitude won't cut it in the real world, where skills decide things."

"Yeah right!" A clone burst out of Naruto's chest and shot straight at Kakashi. In the blink of an eye, Kakashi had pinned it with its knife pointed at the back of its own neck.

"You're very clever, trying to trick me." Kakashi complimented him and tightened his grip. The pinned Naruto growled in frustration, and the one standing by Sasuke and Sakura poofed out of existence. "But now you're clever and dead at the same time."

"Come at me intending to kill me," he called so the others could hear as well. "Pull out all the stops, or you won't even stand a chance."

He got off of Naruto and shouted, "GO!" All three of them disappeared instantly.

_Well, at least they have the sense to hide,_ Kakashi thought to himself.

"It's time for this fight to begin!" Naruto shouted suddenly.

Kakashi groaned. _You've got to be kidding me._

"Let's make it a real fight, a fight between men!" the genin was saying.

"I think you've got the wrong idea."

"Whatever." Naruto started walking towards his sensei. After a few steps, he lurched to both sides and split down the middle, so that two of him kept walking and it wasn't clear which was the original.

"Shadow clones?" Kakashi asked, surprised. "Is that why you think you're Jounin level?"

"Of course not. A single jutsu doesn't make a ninja, unless it's something incredible."

Naruto's words made the man tense: he'd been about to say something like that. As a copy ninja himself, he could tell something wasn't right.

"Unfortunately, Naruto, you made a crucial mistake."

The Narutos glared at him, then each of them split again, this time with one copy stopping and the other continuing to walk.

"What's that, sensei?"

"You're insulting your opponent. The moment I saw through your trick earlier, you should have thrown out this plan completely. But like a genin, you told yourself it would work and went ahead with it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," they managed, but it was painfully obvious he'd been found out. None of the clones were the real Naruto.

"A genin needs to conserve his chakra," Kakashi declared. "Why don't all you little clones go running back to your maker and try again? Crushing you now would be unsportsmanlike of me."

Of course, the four Naruto clones heard this and charged at him, shouting threats and insults. They circled him quickly, darting back and forth so fast a normal person wouldn't be able to follow their movements. Several new clones split off and flew at Kakashi, who fended them off with basic taijutsu. After only a few seconds of this, their chakra was depleted and they dissipated on their own.

"What a strange boy I have to train," Kakashi thought aloud.

* * *

Meanwhile.

"Psst! Sakura!" Sakura jumped, which took a lot of effort because she was lying down on the ground.

"Did I scare you?" Naruto asked with a sly grin. The pink-haired girl glared up at him.

"How'd you find me?" she asked him.

"Why did you wear perfume to a ninja mission?" he countered.

_Maybe that __was__ a bad idea,_ Sakura realized.

"I just felt like it," she defended herself sharply. She could sense his immature pestering about to start, so she was surprised when it didn't.

"I just think it's not that good for shinobi work," he replied, holding up his hands in a sign of defeat. "Actually, I kind of like it. It smells…nice."

_Who is this boy and where did he hide Naruto's body?_

"Anyway, I went and grabbed these," he said and held up his bag with the bento lunches. Grabbing one, he held it out to her. "They have a whole new meaning now."

"I don't need that," was Sakura's instinctive reaction. Her real answer was her stomach growling half a second later.

"C'mon, take it. After all, you are my girlfriend and I can't let you go hungry."

Sakura had almost managed to forget about that, and she didn't appreciate being reminded. Still, she took the box from him and managed a small smile of gratitude.

"Yeah, I guess so. Are you going to eat the other one?"

"No, I'm okay. I think I'll track down Sasuke and give him the other one."It was rude, but Sakura couldn't help herself from scoffing.

"_You,_ track down _Sasuke?_ Don't get your hopes up."

Naruto gave her a playful look that made a shiver go down her spine.

"Oh, I think I can do it. He's got a weakness I can exploit."

"Really?" Sakura was curious despite herself. "What is it?"

"He thinks I'm a complete idiot," Naruto said with a smug look.

Sakura groaned. _That makes two of us._ …At least, the Naruto from a week ago was an started to wonder if this new Naruto could actually catch their teammate.

"I'll be back in a minute, then once we're all together we can make a plan."

With that, he disappeared. As she looked at him, a gust of wind came from somewhere and he started to blur, then the wind blew him away like colored smoke.

Right after he left, the strangest thought occurred to Sakura. A moment later, she shook her head and looked down at the bento in her hands.

_Sasuke can't disappear like that,_ she'd thought.

* * *

Sasuke, meanwhile, was getting annoyed. He'd watched carefully as Naruto's clones took on Kakashi. Even though they were trying to show off the entire time, they never once actually distracted the man. If Naruto wasn't good enough to use as a simple diversion, he might as well not even be here. Now the bird-haired teen needed a new plan.

A direct fight like Naruto's was also out of the question. Even though they'd only been clones moving fast, Kakashi had defended himself with such speed and skill that Sasuke knew he wouldn't be enough. Even worse, that idiot Naruto had gotten the Jounin's blood pumping and ruined any chance of them being underestimated and allowed to get close. The yellow-haired dunce might as well be on Kakashi's side, for all the good he was doing!

Then he heard a slight rustle and said yellow-haired dunce burst through the underbrush below Sasuke's perch. The Uchiha was tempted to drop down and make him unconscious.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called suddenly, as if he had found him. Sasuke was startled, and the branch creaked slightly as he shifted his weight.

"There you are!" the boy beneath him called with the same tone. "Come on down!"

Sasuke was about to leave when something caught his eye. Light flashed off of something on Naruto's belt...upon closer inspection, a pair of silver bells hung there.

_Oh, I get it._ Sasuke spared a quick glance at the Kakashi standing in the clearing. He had pulled out a novel and was standing perfectly still, reading it.

"Get down here and let's make a plan," Naruto called below him. "Just like we did back at the academy."

There was no doubt: Kakashi was trying to trick him. There was also no point in hiding, since the Jounin had obviously found him already. Sasuke jumped down to land silently behind "Naruto," and immediately launched himself forward.

It was over in a second, and easier than he expected. He stripped the bells from their place and was ten feet away before Kakashi had time to react.

"That was far too easy," he chided overconfidently. "…what!?" The bells had melted away in his hand.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun. A cloud of smoke surrounded Naruto, and Kakashi stepped out of it.

"There's been a change of plans," Kakashi said. He held out a bento. "Eat this, I want you to finish the exercise at full strength."

For a moment, Sasuke was completely confused. Then his memory sparked, he remembered seeing the box before, and his mind unraveled the whole thing.

"Naruto, I swear I will kill you someday."

"Woah, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Kakashi started. "Right now I just want to get a pair of silver bells," Naruto finished.

"_You_ shouldn't get ahead of _your_self," Sasuke countered. "You can't even dress yourself in the morning."

Naruto said nothing at first, but gave him a strange look for a few seconds before speaking again.

"Sasuke, I need your help," he said seriously. "I literally spent all night making a strategy to beat Kakashi, and he just ruined the whole thing in a few seconds. I can't get a bell on my own."

Sasuke was stunned by his sudden change in attitude, but he managed to say the first thing that came to mind.

"Well, if you can't get a bell, you aren't good enough to be a shinobi. That's how it works."

"You heard me before," Naruto answered after a moment. "I could care less about moving up the ladder. The bell is for Sakura."

Sasuke was even more stunned now. The idiot was rebutting his arguments with pure…goodness.

_Does that make me the bad guy?_ he wondered.

"Alright," he said finally, "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, first you eat an early lunch," Naruto said with a smirk. "Then, we start making the plan."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the three genin stood together in a clearing. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura were going to tell Naruto that it was the best food they'd tasted in months. After quickly eating in silence, they had gone over the plan many times and finally, _finally_ come up with something they could all agree on.

"Okay, let's go!" Naruto announced, and they all flitted away. Several seconds later, he noticed someone following him.

"Uh, what's up now?" he asked and landed abruptly on a large branch. Sasuke landed next to him.

"There's one more thing I need to know," the bird-haired genin told him.

"What could it possibly be!? We went over everything at least twice!"

"I wasn't going to ask this in front of Sakura," Sasuke growled, "But what did you do?"

"What did I do?" Naruto asked innocently.

"How did you grow so fast? It's not right! And you expect us to believe some unsealing jutsu did it? Power was just handed to you on a silver platter!?"

"Well, power wasn't handed to me on a silver platter." Naruto smirked. "But last night's dinner was." The genin got a dreamy look on his face that only made Sasuke angrier.

"Quit playing games!" the Uchiha nearly shouted.

"What do you want from me?" Naruto shot back. "You want me to be weaker than you forever?"

Sasuke's next retort stuck in his throat.

"That's it, isn't it?" For some reason, Naruto's anger faded as he realized the truth.

"Look," he said after a long moment of silence. "You've always been better than me at taijutsu, ninjutsu…and we both suck at genjutsu, but you're still a bit better at it."

It felt like he was talking to himself as well. Naruto now understood what Viral meant when he talked about 'something for nothing.' It really would cost him nothing to calm this storm.

"Now, I know what you want me to say," Naruto continued. "You want me to admit that I'm not that great. Well okay, I'm not actually this amazing."

Sasuke was listening with more interest than he'd ever shown anything.

"I met a man who can see the future," Naruto explained. "He saved me from an assassination attempt, and started teaching me forbidden jutsu."

Another moment of silence followed before Sasuke said what he was thinking.

"Yeah, right."

"I'm dead serious!" Naruto insisted. "He told me I'd be on a team with you and Sakura, and that our test would be to steal the bells, and that I should eat breakfast this morning and bring food with me."

That part made sense. The color drained from Sasuke's face, chased away by the belief that replaced it.

"There, see? I'm not good enough to find you, I just knew where you were hiding. Are you happy now?"

Suddenly it occurred to Naruto that he might have made a mistake. After all, the village was his enemy now. And he did just admit to learning its most sacred techniques. Trusting people just came so naturally to him…

Sasuke digested the information, and a part of Naruto's mind screamed out nowhere that he should kill the boy. Wincing, he put a hand to his head, but continued to watch his teammate with one eye. Would they have to fight?

"What's his name?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"It's…Viral," Naruto answered warily.

"Can you introduce me to him?"

"Wait, what!?" Naruto was completely surprised. "You want...but…he said the village would go crazy if they found out about him!"

Sasuke's face showed no emotion. "I want to be stronger. No, my whole reason for living is to get stronger. I care about it more than the village's secrets."

"Yeah, Viral called it an 'unhealthy obsession'," Naruto said with a grin.

Sasuke laughed sharply, bitterly. "He said that? Now I definitely need to meet him."

"Yeah," Naruto added, "He said there's even a possible future where you kill us all so you can get stronger."

The joking mood died violently. Sasuke actually stumbled backwards a few steps, a look of pure horror on his face. The air grew tense for a few seconds, and neither of them spoke. Naruto looked at Sasuke, then away, then back again as the Uchiha studied the ground between them.

Finally, the blond jinchuriki coughed.

"Let's just get the bells first, alright? Viral-san's always saying that worrying about bad futures is the quickest way to make them happen."

"R-right." Sasuke jerked back to reality. "Let's go."

* * *

Let's have a round of applause for me, and the fact that I exist. May my complete awesomeness never cease to light the world in the morning just as my incredible humbleness darkens it again at night.

...and may the ability to say things like that at the end of each chapter continue to motivate me to write more of them.

...finally, may I wake up in time to go to Physics lecture tomorrow morning despite going to bed at 1:00 am again. So I guess the lecture is technically "this" morning.

Believe me, I have plans for this story. Plans that include me typing up the story I have planned for Naruto and his friends, and his enemies. If you understand that part the first time you read it, give yourself a cookie.

-Critic


	9. Ninja strategy

**Chapter 9: Ninja Strategy**

Kakashi was enjoying his book, but in the back of his head he really wondered where his students were. He'd expected a break from the fighting after Naruto's diversion, but this was too much! The jounin got a mental picture of the three of them sitting at Ichiraku ramen, laughing at him as they stuffed themselves.

Then it occurred to him that maybe they were making a plan. The whole point of the exercise was to work together, maybe they had figured that out already. But of course, even if Naruto and Sasuke both came to that conclusion separately, it wouldn't mean they'd be able to agree on it. It would take a long time to agree on a plan of attack, almost as long as he'd been standing here, waiting.

Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. _Let's see what they come up with._

Five minutes later, the ramen stand seemed more likely. Kakashi still intended to wait until noon, but he would be sorely disappointed if they didn't try something, and soon. What on earth could be taking them so long?

Suddenly, he caught a whiff of something sweet. _It's that girl's perfume,_ he realized. _So much for a stealthy attack._

A pair of shuriken shot from the underbrush, not aimed at him but slowly curving around. Kakashi kept his eye on them, but didn't put the book down just yet.

Something flashed directly behind them, and he was forced to duck suddenly to avoid a third shuriken that came for his head. The jounin knew better than to lose track of the first pair, and sure enough they turned sharply in midair a second later in what probably would have been his blind spot and flung themselves at him.

Time seemed to slow slightly, as Kakashi's brain entered sharingan mode. His eye wasn't active, but sometimes his mind chose to deny this detail. It had been happening more and more often lately. Underneath the mask, his nose suddenly reported back to him: 'behind you.'

This time the attack WAS in his visual blind spot, but that didn't mean he couldn't dodge it. His evasion defied the eyes of anyone watching: one second he was crouched down, making a single seal with his fingers, the next he was standing to the side as a flight of five shuriken flew by. The scent of perfume on them was a dead giveaway.

With nothing but displaced air to give him away, Sasuke flew into the clearing. His outstretched kunai was five feet away from Kakashi's back when the Jounin first detected him, and four feet away from it when the man started to turn. At three feet their blades met, and the Uchiha's charge was brought to an abrupt halt.

"Good, good," Kakashi said. Sasuke 'Hmph'ed and made a seal. The Genin disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and his teacher knew he had retreated ten feet or so.

An incredible attention to detail was one of Kakashi's great strengths. It wasn't a natural strength, but the abilities of his left eye had granted it over many years. His kunai was heavier. Waving it to dispel the smoke a little, he realized his student's knife had stuck to it like a magnet. With a quick jerk of the wrist, he sent both blades flying. They exploded before they hit the ground, and Sasuke was already on him again.

The time had come to honor his student's effort, the Jounin decided. Unfortunately for Sasuke, this meant he was going in the stream. Taking the initiative with a series of sharp taijutsu moves, Kakashi quickly wore down the boy's guard, tripped him up, and used a throw that normally ended by slamming the victim down on the ground and breaking his spine. The "student" version was something he'd cooked up for tests like this one, and it included changing the direction of the throw at the last minute.

The bird-haired teen was blasted into the air, where he followed a long trajectory into the cold water.

Naruto was next: a cluster of clones came tumbling out of the brush and charged their White-haired instructor. The plan had been for them to fight Kakashi together, but unfortunately Sasuke's opening had been…cut short. They encircled him quickly, but none struck out. More than one nervous glance told Kakashi they were waiting for Sasuke to get out of the water.

"What's the matter? Afraid you'll lose without him?" Kakashi taunted. He couldn't make the teamwork test _too_ easy for them.

It worked right away. A series of angry shouts announced that Naruto was about to attack him, and the rather clumsy hoard of clones fell quickly as they came. Several of them chose not to charge, instead keeping a loose circle around him. Slightly insulted, the Jounin moved so fast they lost track of him, and soon he was standing alone again, as the smoke from popped clones lingered for a moment.

Some more shuriken announced that Sasuke was back, clambering onto the bank and coughing between throws. It was a surprising effort, that he didn't even stop to empty his lungs properly. Obviously they were on some sort of timetable, because the real Naruto dashed out of the woods at the same time a flight of shuriken came from the other side. Sakura's scent on these wasn't as strong as before, but he could still dodge based on it. The boys had probably given her some of theirs in an attempt to mask it.

Naruto split into five while Sasuke finished clearing his throat. Then the clones tried to encircle him as the real genin met in front of him. Whatever their plan was, it would be easy to disrupt, but curiosity got the best of the instructor. He wanted to see what they'd cooked up. He stood casually, finally slipping the book into his pouch as they nodded to each other.

Sasuke made the seals, while Naruto shut his eyes tightly and started mumbling to himself. This lasted several long seconds before the Uchiha raised his hands in a familiar symbol and roared, "Fireball no Jutsu!"

_He shouldn't be able to do that right out of the academy!_ Kakashi marveled.

Then Naruto opened his eyes, and shuffled behind his teammate. His eyes were strangely purple, like blood had invaded their blue discs, and his irises stretched slightly to resemble a cat's slitted eyes. With a loud grunt, he clapped his hands on Sasuke' shoulders and gave a strange shout.

"rrrrrrr-…RRRRRAAAAHHH!"

For a split second, something crackled loudly. Sasuke repeated himself, much louder this time with Naruto's growl in the background: "FIREBALL NO JUTSU!!!"

What erupted from his mouth and hands was the largest ball of fire Kakashi had ever seen. It billowed toward him, not moving in his direction but spreading, directed like a house fire blowing out a window. He took an entire half-second to just stand there and regard it, before taking evasive action.

Almost a whole minute later, the fireball subsided. Instead of burning out, it seemed to choke suddenly and the whole thing disappeared. Sasuke slouched and put his hands on his knees, breathing hard.

"That was too much," he began. "You should have stopped sooner."

Naruto didn't answer. When Sasuke looked up at him, he was just staring quietly at the ground by his feet.

"Well, come on!" Sasuke urged the blonde-haired boy.

"Righ-…Right," Naruto said hoarsely. His eyes were completely red and slitted, but when his teammate looked again to make sure, Naruto rubbed his arm across them and they were normal again.

Wavering slightly, Naruto dropped to his knees and pressed his palms to the ground. "Death lines," he mumbled, and what looked like black cracks spread forward from his hands. They soon started to fill with acid, and a moment later Kakashi broke through the surface a few feet ahead of them. The jounin jumped further away, and regarded them with a strange look.

"You didn't even check," he said in bewilderment. Sasuke smirked triumphantly. This knowing the future thing was fun.

"That's why it's called an educated guess," he told their teacher. Then he jumped. A circle of clear ground appeared in the middle of the black pool, a little smaller than he'd hoped for but it was enough. Using this stepping stone, he charged straight at their teacher yet again.

Kakashi rose quickly to his full height, the bells on his belt making a slight *ting* sound against each other. Then out of nowhere, another *ting* rang out as something struck his forehead protector.

Instantly, time around him got as slow as he could make it with his headband down. The Jounin jerked his body back and his head up. What he saw was Sakura, airborne and falling straight down at him, throwing another shuriken in almost slow motion. They were really taking the "attack to kill" thing seriously, he thought. As fast as he was, he had barely enough time to raise a kunai and block her next throw, then her own kunai as she started to land full-force on their clashing blades.

Kakashi could smell the perfume on her blades, for a second it overpowered his nose until he could adjust. It was the slightest breeze that alerted him to Sasuke's approach, and even that almost came too late. With a massive effort, he managed to pivot backwards and repel Sakura at the same instant, then he swung his arm down and cuffed Sasuke on the back. He'd been aiming for the back of the neck, but his blow landed lower and had much less effect.

The boy's outstretched left hand came short of the bells, so he thrust with the kunai in his right. Still moving blindingly fast, Kakashi caught him in the crook of his elbow. The kunai missed the bells' thread, instead making yet another *ping* sound as it hit one.

A second later the white-haired Jounin launched him into the air, where he once again followed a long trajectory into the cold water.

Sakura surprised everyone by lunging for the bells as Kakashi's back started to turn. She came close, but their instructor noticed her perfume one last time and turned sharply away. The pink-haired girl continued by swinging her kunai at his exposed side. He dodged back, then lunged forward suddenly and knocked her to the ground with a palm-heel strike to her collarbone.

"Naruto, quick!" Sasuke shouted as he literally jumped out of the water. He was too far away to attack again and he knew it. Kakashi swung around following his gaze, then stopped. He straightened out and chuckled slightly.

A moment later, Sakura sat up and shook her head to clear it, then looked to see what the others were staring at. She couldn't help giggling when she saw him.

The black pool was gone, and Naruto was lying slumped on his side. What was funny was the sour look on his face.

They all stared at him for a moment: Sakura giggling softy, Kakashi quietly smiling down on him, and Sasuke returning to his quiet demeanor.

"Are you all right over there, Naruto?" Kakashi asked eventually. "Need any help sitting up?"

"Shut up," Naruto told him but the genin couldn't help grinning.

"Even you have your limits, it seems. I hope you learn from this experience."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto twitched strangely, and the others were a little alarmed. "Ow," he said matter-of-factly, to nobody in particular.

A second later, the boy spasmed violently. Sakura gasped, her smile gone as Kakashi's mind reentered alert mode. Sasuke seemed the least affected, but in truth he was paying close attention.

"There!" Naruto said, and sat up suddenly. The blond genin jumped to his feet and started to stretch. He seemed fine, and the others relaxed.

Then the timer went off, and the three genin remembered they hadn't gotten a bell yet.

"Well, you three didn't get a bell," Kakashi said nonchalantly. "So you've failed the exercise."

* * *

Five minutes later he paced back and forth in front of the genin. All three were tied to tree stumps, since he knew he couldn't use the discrimination test. They'd all performed equally well for their level of skill. Pleased that their teamwork was enough to pass the test, he was cooking up a new one just for fun.

"Your teamwork was impressive considering this was your first fight together." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, or rather the cloth that covered his chin.

"But it took you a very long time to come up with your plan, so long that you ran out of time to actually complete the mission. In a real fight, you need to work together naturally, without words."

"So here's what we're going to do. You're are each tied to a stump, without any lunch to eat."

Kakashi paused, but the sound of three stomachs growling missed its cue. After a few seconds he shrugged and continued.

"This is your problem, your enemy. Now I will tell you your combat abilities. Each of you has the ability to untie one person and give them lunch, but that person cannot be yourself. You have five minutes to decide, then I will come around and you will whisper their name in my ear. You are not allowed to speak to one another during this time, and if anyone is not chosen they will not only stay tied to the stake until this time tomorrow, they will be sent back to the academy."

"That's crap!" Naruto shouted, and Sasuke nodded.

"Hey, not my fault. I've got a quota of failed students I've got to fill." It was a bold-faced lie, but it sent the perfect message. "Now, stop talking and start deciding."

Naruto's mind raced. His first choice would be Sakura, but that would be Sasuke's first choice as well. They couldn't double up, so one of them would have to change. But which one?

Sasuke was thinking along the same lines. With three people, they'd have to go in a circle, so he shouldn't choose the person more likely to choose him.

Sakura didn't know what to think. Naruto was probably expecting her to choose him, but he didn't like Sasuke. What if they chose each other, and Sasuke got sent back to the academy!? She couldn't let that happen. Could Naruto be trusted to choose Sasuke? And would Sasuke choose her? The thought made her feel warm inside, but it couldn't completely sweep away her worries.

After five minutes of serious teenage angst, Kakashi snapped his book shut loudly. The sound made all three of them jump, but they were still tied up so the result was painful.

"All right, time's up." He approached Sakura, who was on the right stump. Leaning in, he cupped his hand around his ear in an overstated motion.

"Sasuke," she whispered. A girl's gotta protect her crush, no matter what.

"Okay," he said with a blank voice. The boys weren't getting any last minute hints.

Next in line was Sasuke. The Jounin repeated his motion, this time with both hands so Sakura couldn't see either.

"Naruto," he decided.

Last in line was Naruto himself. The boy gulped, as the other two gave him an intense look.

_I'm counting on you,_ he thought one last time and made his decision. Kakashi leaned in.

"Sasuke," he said nervously. Kakashi blinked in reaction. Was that a good or bad thing?

* * *

Author's note: The combat part was hard. I wanted to capture Kakashi's POV, since he can see and understand everything faster than it happens. I want to make the rest of my fights more about action and less...I don't know. I enjoyed describing it but when I re-read it I was disappointed. I'm not making an anime, I don't have moving pictures and a language that flows much faster than English. So I don't get to make detailed fights like that one all the time.

Please tell me what you think of that: did you like the detailed fight or do you prefer fewer words? Or is there a way to have both?

As you can tell, the ending goes directly into the next chapter, to motivate me to finish it. I've been chewing on ideas for a month and writing out snippets from further ahead in the story, and I think I'm ready to start laying down chapters again.

It was an AMAZING motivation that this story got 1000 hits the last time I posted a chapter. That really encouraged me, and made this chapter happen now instead of next month.


	10. Until it's gone

**Until it's gone**

_Dynamic(n): A basic force that motivates change_

"Well, well, it looks like your teamwork isn't perfect yet," Kakashi told the three genin, who all groaned.

"But you fought well together, so I'll let you try again tomorrow.

They stared at him in disbelief, until Sakura finally spoke up.

"Tomorrow? You mean, we have to go through all that again!?"

"Not the decision test, but the test with the bells. If you want to continue as a ninja, you should be able to do that much."

Despite the idea of a second try at Kakashi, even the boys sighed wearily.

Their instructor stepped around Naruto and started untying the ropes. Right before he finished, he leaned in and whispered in the boy's ear.

"All three of you have eaten, I smelled it on your breath. Don't pull that little trick tomorrow, if you know what's good for you." Naruto gulped loudly.

Then he turned to untie Sasuke.

"Your choices surprised me," he told them casually as he worked.

"That's right!" Naruto said suddenly. "Tell us who chose who."

Sakura gulped. _Here it comes._ She felt bad that he was going to find out, but her decision wouldn't have changed if they did it again.

Kakashi chuckled. "Are you sure that's what you should be asking? Wouldn't a better question be, 'who didn't get chosen'?" As he said this, he finished untying Sasuke and started coiling the rope over his shoulder.

"Who was it then?" Sakura asked.

"Let's go, boys. We'll meet here at this time tomorrow."

"Eh?" the pink haired girl asked.

"At that time, I'll untie Sakura and you can retake the test with the bells."

All three of them looked shocked.

"Wait, Sakura was the one who didn't get chosen?" Naruto asked, talking himself through it.

"Yes. And as previously stated, she will remain tied to the stump without food until tomorrow at noon. Neither of you are to untie her or bring her food. If you do, you'll get another year of shuriken practice and I'll have filled my quota, if you catch my drift." Kakashi smiled in a way that didn't match the horrible things he was saying.

"Sensei!" Sakura practically shrieked. "You can't do this to me!" The boys agreed.

"Ha ha, you're all so funny." Kakashi put a hand on his forehead protector, casting his face into shadow before he continued.

"I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, and you will like it or leave." He turned to walk off.

"Besides, I'm sure that IF any of you three ever become Jounin yourself, you'll be just as cruel to your little genin students." With that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"That's ridiculous!" Sakura shouted after him.

"Hmm, he's got a good point," Naruto mumbled to himself. Unfortunately she heard him.

"Naruto!" the pink haired girl shouted at him. "Why didn't you choose me!?"

"I thought Sasuke was gonna," he said with a grin. Sasuke held up his hands.

"I thought you were going to choose her."

"So that means I got chosen twice?" Naruto asked. "Awesome."

"You wish," Sasuke shot back. "Sakura probably chose me instead."

"Can you two PLEASE stop joking around, this isn't funny!"

"Kakashi sensei told us not to free you," Naruto said with a shrug. "What can we do?"

"FREE ME ANYWAY!!!"

Sasuke glanced at Naruto. There was no doubt, the grinning genin would be back later. He was just messing with her.

"We better get home and train some more, Naruto said. He was thoroughly enjoying teasing his girlfriend. The truth was there was no doubt he'd be back later, he was just messing with her.

"All right then," Sasuke replied, and they started down the path.

"YOU! GET BACK HERE, BOTH OF YOU!!!" they heard behind them.

"Bye-bye Sakura, see you tomorrow!"

After they'd gone a while and could no longer hear Sakura shouting behind them, Sasuke lost no time in turning to Naruto.

"When are we going?"

"I can't tell if he's still there or not," Naruto said seriously. "Can you?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"We'll just have to guess when he's going to eat then."

"You really want to make her wait that long? You could be in serious trouble with her after that," Sasuke told him.

"Really? In that case, we should go back sooner. Maybe…" Naruto stopped walking suddenly and eyed his teammate.

"What do you mean, I could be in trouble with her. Nobody knows we're-***HACK!***

Naruto doubled over mid-sentence and gripped his stomach, going into a massive coughing fit.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked over the unpleasant sounds. "You've been doing that a lot today."

"Shut up!" Naruto snapped after a moment, and straightened up. The Uchiha felt anger start to build in his chest.

"I was just asking," he said testily.

"I'm fine," Naruto said with incredible coldness. His eyes were swirling with red color again.

"Sure you are. I don't care anymore. Now, when and where should we meet?"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"I'm talking about going after Sakura, you idiot!" The blond boy glared at him for a long moment.

"Right. I think you should do it yourself."

"What? But a minute ago-"

"I know what I said a minute ago. I'm not going to be able to make it."

Something in his choice of words struck Sasuke, and he remembered the growling, the spasming and all the other strange stuff.

"Okay, I'll get her. But tomorrow you introduce me to that Viral person.

"That's right," Naruto said oddly, "I'll take you to meet him tomorrow."

Once again Sasuke noticed the red color of his eyes, and once again Naruto shivered slightly and tried to rub them with his arm.

"Urgh, what?" he asked. Blue eyes.

The Uchiha just stared at him.

"I…I need to get some rest," Naruto declared.

"I believe you," Sasuke said honestly, and they headed off in different directions.

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes and looked around the clearing again. It was getting dark, with the sounds of night just getting loud enough to hear. Beyond her sight, untold numbers of furry little night creatures scampered around the trees in their paradise of darkness and safety.

She wanted to go catch one of those furry things and squeeze it to death in her hands. No, better yet, she wanted to squeeze Naruto's neck between her hands. She imagined it would make the same sound as one of those small animals as she choked the life out of him.

Being tied to a tree stump because he didn't choose her was bad, really bad. It'd kept her fuming for the first three hours. But by now, her angry question had changed to, _'why hasn't he come to free me yet!?'_ What, the boy had suddenly lost his spine? He didn't actually care about what Kakashi said.

Then there was Sasuke!

…Well, Sasuke wasn't that bad. Naruto must have told him not to come. That's right, he'd told Sasuke to butt out. Maybe…_Oh no! He didn't tell Sasuke I was his girlfriend, did he?_ A feeling of horror quickly turned to rage against the blond-haired boy. He came up with some cool-sounding words and made her feel special, all so he could put a barrier between her and Sasuke. He was such an idiot! A diabolical idiot! A cruel idiot!

"Sakura."

"Wha?" Sakura froze up completely. It was Sasuke's voice. Behind her. A shiver went up her spine, then back down again.

Apparently he only wanted to let her know he was there, because Sasuke didn't say anything else. She felt his fingers brush against her wrist as he inspected the knot. She was in heaven, but the silence had to go.

"Sasuke, you came after all," she bubbled.

"Hn, sorry it's so late. Naruto-"

"It's his fault, right?" she cut Sasuke off. "I knew you would've come sooner if it weren't for Naruto."

Sasuke's hands stopped working for a moment.

"I suppose you could say that," she hear him say after a short pause. "By the way, keep your hands still for a second."

She felt the ropes all loosen at once as he simply cut them with a kunai. Opportunity time.

"Sasuke, my savior!" She turned and tried to hug the Uchiha, but he was too fast. She stumbled in front of him, and when she looked back up he was giving her the same strange look as this morning. Sakura couldn't do a thing about the blush that rose on her face, thank goodness it was almost dark.

"Despite what he said, I was sure Naruto was coming back for you. He must be completely wiped out right now."

"I don't mind, if I get to be rescued by you Sasuke-kun." Sakura hoped her voice sounded 'cute.'

Sasuke frowned slightly, nothing unusual there. Fact was, she sounded INCREDIBLY cute, but he wasn't biting.

"We should probably get out of here, just in case Kakashi returns," he told her.

"_We should…", "We should…", "We should…"_ Those words echoed in Sakura's head.

"...And you should get some rest, tomorrow is going to be rough," he was saying. She snapped out of her reverie just in time to get what he was saying.

"Actually, um, Sasuke-kun?"

"What is it?" Sasuke didn't look immediately angry like he often did at times like this. Good sign.

"I'm…famished, and I don't have any money…" She looked down, scuffed the dirt with her toe. "I-I know it's lot to ask, but I can pay you back tomorrow after the test."

He sighed, but still didn't get angry. Good sign #2.

"Sure, but I don't have much money either. It'll have to be somewhere cheap."

There was a moment of silence as even the creature sounds died out for a few seconds.

"...Sakura? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, yes! I'm okay."

"Let's get going then."

The instant Sasuke turned his back, Sakura silently jumped up in the air, spun around, and displayed a 'V' for victory for all the little night-furries. She just got her first date with Sasuke.

They walked in relative silence back to the village. Sakura was excited, but she was also very hungry, and Sasuke wasn't going to defy his true nature and engage in small-talk. The first restaurant they saw was a ramen shop, not Ichiraku but one of its competitors. Sasuke asked if she felt like ramen, and there was no way on earth that Sakura was going to say no to him. Ramen wasn't her first choice, but it was fine.

A true gentleman, Sasuke quietly ate his noodles and pretended he wasn't watching Sakura' hilarious attempt to politely stuff her face. Fortunately, he'd lied about not having much money with him. Unfortunately, that was because he'd just gotten this month's support money from the Hokage's office, and it had to last him until next month.

When she felt about half-full, Sakura suddenly remembered herself and announced she was done. Praying that Sasuke didn't think she was weird, she daintily wiped her mouth with a napkin. Now she had to strike up a conversation before he finished eating as well.

"When did you learn to use that fire jutsu, Sasuke-kun?" she asked cheerfully.

Sasuke grunted. He'd been expecting her to take longer, carefully slowing his own eating so they'd finish at the exact same time and not have to talk. _Oh well,_ he decided, _I guess it can't hurt to talk. After all it's not like we're on a date. I don't have to worry about that anymore._ He pushed his bowl away slightly, determined to finish it later.

"Been a few years since I learned that, actually."

Sakura's eyes bugged out.

"Wow, you're amazing! Is there anything you can't do?"

"I can't get steal a bell from a Jounin." Sasuke smirked. Sakura blanched.

"Th-That's not true! I'm sure you can do it, you just didn't know anything about him today."

"Yes, but it probably wouldn't have changed anything." Sasuke was secretly thinking about Naruto's failed attempt.

"Well, I'm sure you can find a way to get a bell tomorrow," Sakura said stubbornly.

"Maybe," he allowed. "But it'll take all of us working together."

"I'm so sorry about today! I couldn't do anything at all, even when he was just standing there facing the other way."

Sasuke regarded her with a smile that made her melt inside.

"I was surprised at you, actually. You agreed to let Naruto _throw_ you at our sensei, and didn't give up even when you were the only one left standing."

Sakura blushed deeply. She'd never heard her crush talk so much, and he was talking about _her!_

"I-it wasn't anything great. I couldn't keep you from getting thrown in the stream."

Sasuke's face clouded over for a second, but then it passed and he sighed.

"I feel so deflated now," he said out of nowhere.

"What are you talking about?" she asked with concern.

"It's just something that Naruto said, back when we were in the woods."

"What did he say?" Sakura's mood darkened.

"He said…well, it's not important what he said. It made me realize that I've been too impatient."

"Impatient? How?" Sakura was about ready to start taking notes.

"Well, suppose I did get a bell from Kakashi. I'm a genin, he's a Jounin but I defeat him during the test. From his point of view, the idea's pretty sickening." Sasuke looked deeply into his ramen bowl as he continued.

"He's been a ninja for years, it's only fair that he should be stronger than me. If I'm ever his age, I don't want to get beaten by some kid who just got his headband."

There was a bit of silence when he finished, so he went back to eating dinner, at normal guy speed.

"I've never thought of it that way before," Sakura said quietly. "Are you saying Kakashi-sensei's not expecting us to do it tomorrow either?"

Sasuke poured the last of the broth into his mouth and set down his bowl.

"Well, either he'll deliberately let us take it if we can impress him enough, or he's just been messing with us from the start." The thought actually made him chuckle instead of scowl.

"That's terrible! And I got tied to that stump as part of some old guy's game?" Listening to her, Sasuke looked uncomfortable.

"I really am sorry about that," he mumbled. "I knew Naruto wanted to be the one to save you, but I held off too long."

"What?" Sakura was shocked. Sasuke looked like he regretted saying anything.

She wanted to pursue it, but she remembered herself. _Date. Polite. Mature. Right._

"I didn't really care who it was that came," she lied, "But I knew they going to buy me dinner."

Sasuke laughed at her joke, and seemed to relax a bit. He asked the owner how much it would be and started discreetly counting coins.

"Are you going to go train?" Sakura asked him a little worried.

"Maybe, but if I do it won't last long. I need to get lots of rest tonight."

"Yeah, me too." Sakura knew she was in no condition to train, but the option of watching him had been worth going for.

"You might want to check on Naruto, he's probably much worse off than I am." Sakura was repelled by the suggestion, but tried to hide it.

"Umm, I don't know where he lives."

"Really? His apartment is right beneath the fourth Hokage's head, the one on the far right." Sakura held her breath, planning a dodge.

"Of course, he probably isn't there right now," Sasuke said thoughtfully. _Whew, Safe._

"It's getting pretty late, could you walk me home Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke considered for a moment, and decided there was no harm in it.

"Sure. Which way is your house?"

_He knows where Naruto lives but not where I live,_ Sakura realized dejectedly. She was determined to soak every word of conversation she could out of this last walk.

"Well, that was fun," she said a few minutes later. "I should get tied to a stump more often."

"That shouldn't be necessary. I'm sure Naruto will take you out whenever you want to."

_URK. …Date. Polite. Mature._

"How about you? I'll pay for my own food next time?" Sasuke considered for a few seconds before replying.

"Maybe."

"I don't get much allowance though, so it'll probably be ramen again," she told him with a smile. Sasuke smirked.

They fell silent for a minute, but Sakura was contented. She walked happily, swinging her arms and almost bouncing as Sasuke strode casually next to her. Glancing to the side, she caught him looking at her yet again.

"You keep staring at me lately," she accused playfully, going for the jugular. "Why is that?" He chuckled.

"Sorry. It just struck me that I really lost to Naruto for the first time."

"Naruto? How so?"

Sasuke said nothing. He was looking straight at her.

"Huh?" An idea occurred to Sakura, and she started to laugh. Then a second later, the same idea occurred to her again and she stopped short. The third time she thought it, the idea grabbed her heart and pulled it kicking and screaming out of her chest and into a black void beneath her.

"I'm talking about you two being together."

*SLAP!* Inner Sakura went reeling backwards and fell over. Sasuke didn't seem to notice.

"I saw you guys yesterday, it really surprised me when you said yes to him."

"You saw..." Sakura repeated miserably.

"It's funny, actually." Sasuke actually smiled at her, but she couldn't return it very well.

"How is it funny?" she asked but managed to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"Well, you were different today somehow. In a good way. But now you're taken." He scratched the back of his neck, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"I have no idea what you're saying," Sakura told him plainly, and he sighed before explaining.

"I actually couldn't stand you before, flirting all the time and barely hiding the fact that you wanted me as a trophy. I felt relieved when you agreed to be Naruto's girlfriend. Now I can buy you dinner without worrying about you doing victory signs behind my back or something."

Sakura stared at him. _Great, guilt on top of everything else._

"And yet, now I find myself envying Naruto a bit. I guess it could just be withdrawal though."

He liked her. He liked her but didn't see her as available. What a reversal!

"Sasuke-kun, I…" right when she was about to lay out a very different explanation of what had happened, Sakura was interrupted by her mother calling for her.

"Sakura-chan, where have you been!? I've been so worried!"

"This your house?" Sasuke asked with mild interest.

"Yes, it is." Sakura turned and jogged to the door, as if her mother's shouts were the reason she was in a hurry.

* * *

I...I got on Fanfiction, just like always...and it was BROKEN!!! Waaaaahhh!

Well, at least they fixed it. I'm worried that with all the people posting their chapters they finished yesterday mine won't stay at the top very long. But that's a selfish thought, and I shall not dwell on it. This story is FINALLY going to start moving in its original direction now. I know I get bogged down in introduction, trying to smooth out my ideas with the existing storyline. But you know, all books have to set the scene as well. Maybe my introduction writing is just further developed than my attention span, and that's why I never make it to the awesomeness in store.

I'll take any advice I can get, and thank you for it.

-Critic214


	11. The enemy within

**Chapter 11: The Enemy Within**

Viral had been thinking. He had been thinking for hours on end, day after day after day. As a scholar, he had never believed in losing sleep for any reason, it made one's mind become blunt and that was inexcusable. However, since he discovered this ability he hadn't slept more than six hours in a row. There just wasn't enough time! If he didn't inspect the future every waking moment, he was afraid it would come and leave him in regret.

Like always, something bad was about to happen. A child was going to climb up on the roof of his house and end up with a broken arm. But that was only a small thing, there just wasn't enough time to stop it. It tore at Viral's heart to block out that sight, but he had no choice! He was making the right choice, the choice that needed to be made.

_I'm going insane,_ he thought suddenly. _I'm going to snap under pressure, and that will be the end of my help. This world will be left to destroy itself if that happens._

With one great act of willpower, he swept aside all of his thoughts and visions. Now he would start building a plan from scratch, and stick with it no matter what.

* * *

Coming back from the test, Naruto felt terrible. He barely heard Shikasa welcoming him back, barely noticed that there were dozens more tents than before, that none of Tohno's original guards were around. Why they needed so many horses, he didn't know and he didn't especially care. He shuffled through the camp, entered his tent, and flopped down on the many blankets that were his bed. His tired muscles finally let him off the hook, and he was asleep within seconds. It would be hours before he awoke.

Tohno woke with a start, rolled over groggily. It was late now, and even the light of campfires no longer shone through the fabric of his tent.

"Who's there?" he snapped. No point wasting time, telling himself he was alone. There were plenty of men around, none of whom were especially trustworthy. They didn't all fear him yet.

"Don't you recognize me, Tohno-san?"

That voice chilled him to the bone. Somewhere behind him…was something he didn't want to meet. He couldn't place it, but the vacant familiarity was a nasty shock even without fully understanding it.

"Look at me," the voice said idly, but with a hint of impatience. The young lord slowly rotated in place, stopping as his eyes came to rest on Naruto. A rush of relief started through him, but died out almost immediately.

"Who…Who are you!?" he demanded of the creature. Slitted red eyes looked back at him and the face grinned.

"Most of my names came from those that despise me," it told him. "Nonetheless, I find I approve of them: 'Monster,' 'Demon,' even 'weapon.'

"Ninetails," Tohno whispered.

"That too." The suddenly childish expression on Naruto's face did absolutely nothing to make him less fearsome.

"I find myself in an interesting position because of you, mortal," the Kyuubi continued. "The process is long and intricate to put me in such a state, fully awake but stripped of the majority of my strength. Yet this is exactly what you have done."

Naruto lifted up his nightshirt to show off the seal: the spiral that had always been there was bigger, and Tohno realized the lines were extending, spiraling outward. Also, a second set of tiny black lines had set out from the center, spiraling in between their thicker counterparts and glowing with a faint red light.

The young lord was struck dumb.

"I don't imagine that you have a method for reversing the effect," the Kyuubi said, watching him with unblinking eyes.

"T-That," Tohno started, but was drowned out by a roar of laughter.

"So you don't!" Naruto boomed. "You didn't anticipate ever needing to put the fox back in the bag. What a moron!"

Tohno cursed himself. The constant transition between an ancient, powerful entity and some primary-school child had him completely unnerved.

"So," the creature was instantly sober and calm again. "What is it you want?"

"What I…want?"

"DUH! Just how stupid are you!? …you must have started messing with my seal for a reason. Attempting to harness my power, were you?"

Tohno decided to try something.

"No," he said calmly.

"Lies," the Ninetails said just as calmly. _So much for that,_ Tohno thought.

"Harness is such a nasty word though." The young lord was beginning to recover. "Saying that I want to 'harness' your power is like saying a man 'harnesses' the village when he hires their ninja. I intend to give Naruto rewards richer than he has ever dreamed of."

"I'm not Naruto, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Hmm, you're right. I assume you want to clarify that, and make your own set of demands?"

"You're waaaaaay smarter than you look," Naruto scoffed.

"I wonder if I can say the same." Tohno smirked at him. "It seems to me that at the end of the day, your cooperation is of no value to me."

A pair of slitted eyes widened at that.

"Of no value!?" the voice suddenly sounded very different from Naruto's. "The boy is but a leaky faucet. I am the ocean!"

"You are his personal ocean, helplessly restrained behind a small, occasionally leaky faucet."

The creature let out a howl that shook the night, kick-starting Tohno's adrenal glands.

"You've done more harm than you realize," it growled when the howl subsided. "You forced open the faucet a bit too hard, and now it is only a matter of time before I am free."

It was Tohno's turn to be shocked. The voice paused for a few seconds for his gears to turn.

"I came here tonight to inform you of this, and suggest to you that you begin earning my friendship. I shall not be ignored, not now, not ever again." Naruto's breathing started to become shallow and the voice weakened near the end of its speech.

"You…you think that-" Tohno was cut off sharply.

"We shall speak again," the voice said before Naruto closed his eyes and crumpled to the floor. If it weren't for the relatively thick futon behind him, the boy could have been hurt. Of course, Tohno realized, the Kyuubi would never allow that to happen. Not without a reason. The question was, what will a Demon tolerate before making good on the constant, unspoken threat of harming its host?

_The time when the words "tread carefully" did not apply ended long ago,_ Tohno considered in the darkness. A few minutes later, he called for someone to carry Naruto back to his tent.

* * *

Two men stood in an alley, both of their faces blurred in the deep shadow of a tall building. Neither of them would have been comfortable without it.

"Take it," The first man said gruffly. With a huge frame covered in thick hair, his voice matched his appearance. He extended a thick arm and dangled a small pouch so that it clinked seductively.

The other man was of a much slighter build, but his eyes were sharp. Even in this shadow, a good pair of eyes could make out the leaf symbol on his headband. He slowly reached out a hand for the pouch, but the thug pulled it back and grinned cruelly.

"You have no complaints, correct?" he asked derisively. The Konoha nin's face became even sharper looking for a moment.

"That's correct."

"Heh." The burly man tossed him his payment and turned to leave.

"Tell your master this," the smaller man said suddenly, his voice a whole octave lower than before. His employer blinked in surprise but did not turn around.

"He has one week, two weeks at the most before this runs out. Your little group better have something to show for yourselves by then, or your destruction is assured."

"Heh," The thug chuckled again and waved a hand, still not turning back around.

"You have no idea," he mumbled to himself as he turned the corner. A column of shadow broke from the rest and followed him, defying a row of pale street lights in order to preserve his sense of security.

When he was gone, the Konoha nin closed his eyes and whistled low. Another shape tore itself from the shadows, coming from a kind of darkness even deeper than that around it.

"Thank you, I knew I could count on your assistance in this matter," Viral said solemnly. His ally shook his head wildly, dropping his own solemn composure in favor of a more casual one.

"I'm ashamed to be known so well by a stranger," he replied with a smirk, retrieving a slightly larger pouch from his belt. "I can't decide which one feels dirtier."

Viral smiled, surprised at himself. "You can rest assured that neither will soil your honor, if you do as I have asked."

"About that, you sure were specific. I wonder if I'm not letting a dangerous man have his way…"

Viral's face returned to its stonelike form. "Absolutely not. As I explained earlier-"

"Ahh, don't worry," the ninja cut him off. "I've already been paid." He raised a fist and then his index finger, counting it with his other index finger. "The way I see it, either you're telling the truth, and things will go exactly the way you say." He raised a second finger and counted it. "Or, you're lying, and I'm in a good position to stop whatever it is you really have planned." The third finger went up. "Or, you're just plain wrong, in which case you're teetering on the brink of insanity, and I don't have to worry about you either way."

"How right you are," Viral couldn't stop himself from saying. Then, unable to speak as a fresh slew of predictions assaulted his mind, he simply turned on his heel and strode away.

"Of course," the ninja said silently after him, "If the elders find out, I'm in a world of trouble no matter which it is."

* * *

I wake up at 6:00am, drive a half hour to open the store by myself, get off at 11:30 so I have time to drive 40 minutes to my 1:00 class, get out at 3 and drive 40 minutes back home, to help my dad fix sprinkler heads and pull weeds.

And yet, there are people who are busier than me who write more than I do. I am without excuse.

The next 2 chapters are almost complete, if I don't have them out by next week I'll be very disappointed in myself. Oh, and the next chapter of The Peddler comes to Konoha is almost done as well.

Thank you all for your patience.


	12. Alternate Reality

**Chapter 12: Alternate Reality**

The time had come. Viral walked quickly, so he could arrive before his resolve faltered. Down the row of tents, past the large purple one, until he came to the small red one. Pausing to take a deep breath, the oracle put on his best smile and was ready.

"Rise and shine, Naruto!" he called out cheerily. It only lasted a few minutes, but every day Naruto was terribly grumpy right after waking up. Viral swept open the flap and entered.

"Oh, good morning Viral-san." Naruto was standing in the middle of the tent, fully clothed with his eyes shut tight, his hands practicing seals. For a second it looked like a gust of wind blew him away, then the boy reformed right next to the oracle, looking up at him with a huge grin.

_Or…I could have been worried for absolutely no reason at all. _Viral's smile became real and amused.

"You're up early, what's the occasion?"

"My first day as a ninja, of course! I'm going to show Kakashi-sensei that all three of us are good enough to steal a bell from him this time!"

"Err, about that." Viral grinned in spite of himself. "Rescuing Sakura was the test. It was a personality/teamwork thing."

"Oh, that's easy then! I…" Then Naruto remembered.

"SAKURA!!! OH SHOOT!!!" He launched himself at the entrance, but Viral's hand snapped out and caught his collar.

"I even told Sasuke not to worry about it! This is bad, Viral-san! Really really bad!"

"Relax, Naruto. Sasuke went back for her, it all worked out okay. _Well, relatively okay, _the man thought to himself. …_Mostly okay._

"So he got to be the cool hero again." Naruto scowled for a moment, then he was cheerful again. "Well, it's better than leaving her there all night. I'll have to apologize to both of them today. I wonder if Shikasa's cooked anything good I can use…"

"Naruto, I have some things to tell you before you go."

"What's up?"

"First, I talked to lord Tohno about Sasuke. He wasn't keen on the idea of bringing him into the camp, but agreed that I can talk to him if we do it inside Konoha."

"That works."

"Second, We've decided that you should…go back to your old house for a couple of days. There's going to be a lot going on here in the camp, and Tohno-sama thought it would be a good chance for you to clean up the apartment and take anything you care about. Then we'll arrange for you to come live with us permanently."

"Sounds good." Naruto's head bobbed up and down. He smiled, remembering the ramen stash in his closet. "Now…can I go? Please?"

"Oh, sorry." Viral let go of the boy's collar and he was out of the tent in a flash.

* * *

Sakura walked slowly, thinking a lot but not really finishing any of her thoughts. She wanted to just lie in bed, but her loving mother had forced her to get up and go. Kakashi-sensei wasn't going to be there yet anyway, but something told her Sasuke and maybe even Naruto would be sitting there when she arrived.

Still, you can only take so long to walk somewhere, and eventually she turned a corner and saw the bench that seemed to be their meeting place now. And sure enough, there was Black-hair-black-eyes and Blond-hair-blue-eyes with him. And they'd both noticed her already, what fun!

Naruto made a small "hoomph" as Sasuke elbowed him in the ribs, then jumped to his feet.

"Sakura!" he cried and started running toward her. _If he comes for a hug,_ Inner Sakura told her, _stab him. He'll be fine, just do it._

But he didn't. Stopping a few feet in front of her, Naruto bowed low and apologized.

"I'm really, really sorry I didn't come get you last night," he said meekly. "I went to lie down, and it was like a light switch turned off in my head! I didn't wake up until this morning."

"Most people call that sleeping, Naruto," she said sarcastically. She felt annoyed, but not as much as a minute ago. In front of her, Naruto winced and bowed lower. _Well,_ Sakura thought, _You did inadvertently give me a good time last night._ She could see Sasuke approaching them slowly.

"I know it's not a good excuse. I just…I messed up, and I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I promise!"

She locked eyes with Sasuke, and he tactfully looked away. "No, it won't," she said gloomily.

"Uh…yeah? I guess the chances of Kakashi-sensei tying you to another post are pretty slim." Naruto chuckled. Sakura glared at him.

"But, of course, if he were to even mention it, I'd tell him to stuff it and get you away from him," he tried. She was still glaring at him.

"Or…maybe…offer to take your place instead? Let myself get tied to the post while you go home?" Naruto's expression was priceless, a nervous smile laced with panic.

"Hmph!" Sakura turned her head away and crossed her arms, then walked around him. It would be so embarrassing to let him see her blushing like this. Maybe stabbing was a bit too much, and after all he was doing his best to apologize.

Sasuke smirked as she approached him. "I know, how about we make Naruto pay me for the ramen we ate last night?"

"WHAT!?" the blond boy cried out, despite himself. "Pay for another man's ramen date!? NEVER!!!" Then he took one look at Sakura's back and sighed.

"Jerk. How much do I owe you?" he took out his little frog pouch. A single tear slipped from one of its plastic eyes.

"Wait," Sakura said, surprising them both. "I offered to pay Sasuke back for that. If Naruto wants to redeem himself, he's going to have to take me out somewhere else."

Naruto brightened up, and the frog pouch in his hands gave a tiny squeal of joy. "Well, if you insist. Ramen tastes better if you eat it with your girlfriend, or so I've heard."

"Oh, you're not taking me to a ramen stall, I want sushi, sushi!"

"But that's really expensive!"

"Aren't you a man? You won't feel like you've really redeemed yourself unless it costs you, _right?_" She flashed Naruto a smile that echoed her words: _you're forgiven, but not off the hook just yet._

"Yes, ma'am."

Sasuke and Sakura both laughed, and eventually he joined in as well. A deeper voice started laughing with them, someone standing right behind Naruto.

"haha-UWAH!" The blond jumped and landed facing their sensei. Kakashi stopped laughing in an instant, but his eyes looked like something was still funny.

"…aaaaaand that brings us to today's mission," he told them. "Everyone follow me!" He whirled about and started walking. The three teens fell in behind him.

"What's this, no bell test?" Sasuke asked when they passed through the large gates back into Konoha proper. Kakashi stopped short.

"Ah, that's right!" he turned and smiled at them beneath the mask. "Congratulations! You three are all genin now! My name is Hatake Kakashi, I'll be your team leader as we go out and run missions for the village." He bowed his head slightly.

"And what about your quota?" Sasuke pressed, amused.

"Was there something like that? I can't recall…"

"Sensei!" Sakura shouted, "You tied me to a post! And you left me to spend the night there!"

"Yes, well, it's time to let bygones be bygones, come together as a group and start afresh, clean-slate and all…"

"I should've told my parents."

"Don't worry, they knew." Kakashi smiled at her.

"I…oh." _I wondered why mom made such a big breakfast this morning,_ Inner Sakura thought bitterly.

"Alright troops, it's time to get started on our first mission ever!" Kakashi said cheerfully. So cheerfully, in fact, that the three genin felt suddenly suspicious.

"ALL RIGHT!!!"

Well, two of the three genin anyway.

"So what is it, huh?" Naruto sputtered. "Are we rescuing a princess? Or destroying an evil organization? Or maybe-"

"Actually," Kakashi cut him off, "You got it right the first time."

"Wait, really?" Sakura asked.

"You've got to be kidding," Sasuke finished for her.

Their sensei fished around in his jacket and pulled out a picture so the two could see.

"Her name is 'princess' and she's run away from home." In the picture was the fattest cat they had ever seen, wrapped mercilessly in pink ribbons.

"Isn't she cute?" The jonin smiled warmly.

"Well, kinda," Sasuke replied with a wry smile.

"REALLY? Let me see, let me see!" Naruto bounced over to get a look, but Kakashi whisked the picture back into his pocket.

"Since you're so enthusiastic Naruto, why don't you take point?"

"Take point?"

Kakashi sighed. "Go first. Lead. We'll back you up, it'll be good practice for everyone."

Naruto grinned. "Right, because I'm gonna be the Hokage someday, you should all get used to following my lead."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other, and nodded simultaneously. He deserved this.

"Whatever. Naruto, you'll need this." Kakashi held out a small electronic device. "Unbeknownst to her, Princess has a tracer in her…necklace. With this, finding her shouldn't be too hard."

Naruto took the device, looked at it, then looked up at them, completely lost.

"You switch it on over here," Kakashi showed him, "And if it's getting a signal it should start beeping."

Sure enough, the device came to life with a beep, and continued beeping every few seconds.

"The closer we get, the faster it goes. You'll have to figure out how to use it to find her."

"How do I do that?"

"Well, one way to do it is to run in a circle and find where it beeps fastest, then you use that point as the center for a new circle, repeat until you find her."

"Oh yeah…" Naruto looked like he almost had it. He looked down and dug a little furrow in the ground with his foot.

"So that's the center of my first circle." Holding the device out at arm's length, he started to run a 50-foot circle around it.

"Sensei," Sakura asked quietly. "What if the cat moves?"

"Well, you'd just have to pay attention and adjust accordingly."

"Can Naruto even do that?"

"Uhhh…" Kakashi was at a loss for words.

"And sensei," Sasuke cut in, "Just how much faster does it beep for every 50 feet closer you get?"

"Oh, I'd say about 200 milliseconds difference between beeps. Sometimes it varies depending on how far away you are."

"Sensei!" Sakura scolded, "Naruto can't tell that kind of difference!" Sasuke nodded.

"Oh, he can't?" Kakashi seemed surprised. "Then I suppose today will be a lesson in humility for him."

They both shuddered. The jonin was still smiling, so why was he so scary?

* * *

"This is impossible!" Naruto whined an hour later. "There's no difference at all!" He'd lead them around a large section of woods, and come right back to where they'd started.

"But Naruto, what about Princess?" Kakashi asked him happily. "Do you want me to take over as the leader?" The boy glared at him, then his face brightened.

"Oh, I know what I'm doing wrong!" Naruto declared. "I've been trying to do it all myself. Tohno-san told me a good leader always gives the work to whoever's best at it." He turned to address the troops.

"Sasuke, you take this." He handed over the tracker. "I'll mark the centers, your job is to go around them with this. Get it as high as you can, so the trees don't block the signal."

"Right. Whatever."

"Sakura, you follow him and listen to the beeps, try to tell when they're getting faster."

"Sure." _It's about time,_ inner Sakura thought.

"Then when we find the Princess, I'll go rescue her." Naruto looked pleased with himself.

"What should I do?" Kakashi pointed to himself. Naruto thought for a second, then smiled mischievously.

"Provide moral support and encouragement to the group, with occasional comedic relief."

"What?" Kakashi asked blankly. None of them knew what to make of Naruto's sudden change.

"Well, let's get going then," The Jonin said after a moment. "Our fearless leader has a damsel to save." Sasuke and Sakura chuckled.

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Naruto commended them.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun, try it over there," Sakura told him, "I think I noticed a difference."

"Yeah, what she said!" Naruto echoed. He was doing that a lot, and it was starting to get to the others.

Sasuke humphed. He couldn't tell a difference, but he jumped from tree to tree in the direction she'd pointed.

"Here?" he called back.

"Yeah, definitely. Let's head that way for a bit."

"Okay, we're heading that-" Naruto began, but Sakura shushed him.

"Shhh! I can't hear the tracker."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Kakashi regarded his strange new recruits. Sasuke seemed to be able to read the tracker a little, but not as well as Sakura and that bugged him. Sakura herself was getting so focused on her new toy she was almost oblivious of the other two, and Naruto…Naruto was gradually stepping down as leader, but he was still new at this humility thing and it was testing his patience.

_Excellent. They're growing by leaps and bounds, removing their own weaknesses. I always knew having genin was easier than it looked._

"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed. "It just got faster! And I noticed it!"

"Yeah it did," Sasuke agreed.

"Let's go!" Sakura cried and ran past them. To Kakashi's amazement, the boys actually formed up behind her instead of racing ahead. Neither of them wanted to go the wrong way and look like an idiot.

"Stop!" Sakura shouted and stopped short. The boys skidded to a halt next to her, looking to her for direction. Sasuke held out the tracker in front of them. It was beeping much faster than when they began.

"Sasuke, try to the right about ten feet." He did. Sakura closed her eyes.

"Now walk to the left, slowly." Sasuke paced over, passed them, and went ten feet past them.

"It's that way," Sakura declared. Her eyes snapped open and the chase was on again, Sasuke falling into step as they passed him. His face showed mild surprise, while Naruto's showed obvious admiration. None of them were paying any attention to their sensei, who followed behind.

Eventually they came to a clearing and the beeping turned into a solid hum. Sakura ordered the tracker turned off, and Sasuke complied.

"She's too close to use that anymore," Sakura informed them. "Let's spread out and-" She stopped as they heard something rustle through a bush in front of them.

"Nevermind. Naruto, you're up!"

Naruto stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "It's my turn! Finally!" Why someone would crack his knuckles to go find a runaway princess was anybody's guess, but they decided to let it go.

The blond genin disappeared, blown away by the wind it seemed. They heard some rustling and then he cried out from the bush.

"Ow! Stupid cat!"

A second later he emerged, holding their target. "It looks like the Princess knew about her tracer," he said seriously. "She stuck it on this cat to fool us."

Nobody could take it. They all burst into laughter, holding their sides and wheezing for breath while Naruto stood there confused. Princess decided to make a bid for freedom, slashing him repeatedly as he shouted and stumbled backward.

The others were still laughing as he finally gave up. The fat cat jumped from his arms and ran back into the bushes.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried at him, her chuckles subsiding, "You let her get away!"

"Don't worry, it's cool," he told them and held up the tracer. "Ta-da! I made sure to get this off first, at least we don't have to worry about false signals anymore."

Dead silence followed. Sakura groaned, and Sasuke smirked at the irony.

Kakashi pulled out his photograph. "Naruto, that cat WAS princess. You just let her get away again, this time WITHOUT her tracer."

"What?"

More silence. Naruto looked thoughtful.

"Well, maybe you can use your nin-dogs to-" he stopped short. Kakashi's visible eyebrow rose.

"How do you know about them?"

"Umm, a ninja always studies his opponent and his sensei?"

Kakashi chuckled. "I think you added something to our sacred teaching there, but oh well. Thanks to Sakura's excellent leadership, you three were able to complete the mission."

The boys looked at her, and Sakura blushed. She never would figure out which one of them she was blushing for.

"So now I'm going to step in and give you a hand," Kakashi continued. "Watch carefully, now."

Whipping out his scroll, he summoned nine nin-dogs, who quickly scattered and located Princess. The cat came bounding back into the clearing with four of them on her tail, and immediately jumped into Naruto's waiting arms. More scratching ensued, until he was forced to step backward out of himself, leaving a clone to suffer with the cat.

"Ah, much better," he told the others as Kakashi dismissed the dogs.

"Gaah!" his clone cried as it got scratched yet again.

"You're not rejoining me," Naruto told the clone sternly. "You'll just have to go dissipate your memories somehow."

"Jerk," the clone called him.

"Naruto, if you're done talking to yourself then let's go return the cat," Kakashi told him.

"Right," the two Narutos said in perfect unison.

* * *

Ahh, college. I like college. So much to do, so much homework and so much fun to have. So many distractions from writing stories.

I wrote this entire chapter at work, isn't that funny? The Saturday shift at a small Fedex is a amazing, you just stand around for 8 hours and help maybe 10 customers during that time. This time I actually wrote 3 chapters simultaneously, jumping back and forth. That's why it took so long, but after all this time waiting I promise you guys won't be disappointed.

-Critic


	13. Eviction by fire

**Chapter 13: Eviction by Fire**

Naruto woke with a start, gasping for breath. He felt completely disoriented, sick to his stomach. Something, something horrible had happened, something hideous was devouring him and his skin was melting and burning and screaming all at the same time. He glanced around the room, wide-eyed, before slamming back down on the bed.

The nightmares were getting worse. He remembered having one the night before as well, and the night before that. How long had this been going on? He needed to ask Viral about it...but...why hadn't he asked before? Had he asked before?

Naruto had a hard time concentrating, as the adrenaline rush started to fade and left both his mind and body slack. He wanted it to stop, wanted it to...something bad, right? Something had happened again, but he couldn't...

Naruto clapped his hands to the sides of his head and grunted, "wake up!" And just like that, it was over. The boy had no memory of the nightmare, or any of the other nightmares he'd been having these last few days. The Kyuubi fell silent inside of him, finished for now.

The order, "wake up," didn't have the best timing. Checking his clock, Naruto found that it was definitely not morning. It wasn't even midnight yet. He wasn't hungry, but he decided to eat something. Some miso ramen, maybe, or ramen with chicken...

Something moved. Naruto froze. It was only a half-second before he unfroze and slowly got out of bed. _ No, I don't know you're here, ninja-san,_ he thought to himself. _I'm just a little kid you can take by surprise.__  
_  
There was more movement now that he was paying attention. Breathing, in the top corner of his room. He wanted to just throw a blade at it, but his PJ's didn't come with a shuriken pouch. Why'd this have to happen the ONE time he changed out of his clothes before bed!?

He reached the door and still hadn't decided what to do, might as well wing it.

"What are you doing in my house!?" he demanded, spinning around and pointing at the corner. Nothing happened.

A few quiet seconds went by. The breathing got quieter but he could still hear it.

"I SAID, what are you doing-" Naruto flitted out of sight on the floor and appeared in the air, driving a fist into the wall. "-IN MY HOUSE!!!"

The shadows gathered and a face wrapped in black cloth slipped out of the wall, inches from his fist. A kunai flashed out, and separated his arm from his body. A spray of blood flew at the man, but dissipated before it reached him. The Naruto clone poofed away.

"Uzumaki Naruto," a gravely voice said from behind the wrappings. "You are under arrest for treason and espionage." The man's body emerged from the wall and stayed up in the corner. The area in the middle of the room vibrated a bit, and Naruto came back into view, scowling at him.

"Are you serious?" the boy asked with a smirk. "And they sent you to do it all alone?"

"Please, don't make this difficult for yourself," a second, smoother voice said from behind him.

"What!?"

There were three ninja pointing their blades at Naruto's neck. The boy wondered how they'd gotten so close without him noticing.

"Hmph. I can see you're surprised," the rasping man said as he slipped to the floor. "Fool. Get this into your puny head: Konoha's elite can slow their breathing to once or twice per minute."

"Oh, that makes sense," Naruto said thoughtfully. "You were the diversion."

"Now, let's go."

"Nope," Naruto said simply.

One of the ninja kicked the back of his knee, forcing him down onto it. Naruto cried out weakly, for a moment filling the room with the sound.

"What a weakling," the only female member of the group muttered.

"Hey loser," Naruto smiled up at the leader, panting. "Get this into your idiot head: Uzumaki Naruto...eats his midnight snacks in bed."

The Naruto clone poofed as three blades entered its neck. The bed erupted behind them as Naruto made a dash for his equipment. He grabbed a kunai sitting on the desk, but the female ninja blocked his path to the rest.

Next, to the door. One of the other ninja made it there first. And just like that, Naruto was trapped for real. He raised the kunai in front of his face and growled at them. One of the black-clad figures stopped in its tracks, but the leader advanced toward him.

"At the end of the day, you really are an animal, aren't you?" he said menacingly. "You should be put out of your misery."

Naruto suddenly had an idea, but it really would be miserable. Oh well, better than being "put out." by this man.

Without a sound, the boy doubled over, arms wrapped around his stomach. Everyone in the room tensed as his belly made a very, very unpleasant sound.

"What are you doing now?" the gravelly voice asked him. "More little tricks?"

Naruto looked up at him, his face tinged with green and black. For a second, his cheeks bulged.

*BLUUAARRGG*

A fountain of black liquid sprayed out of Naruto's mouth, first at the group of ninja and then at the wall as he turned his head. Whatever it touched started to sizzle and acrid smoke filled the room.

"AGH-GET IT OFF! GET. IT. OFF!!!" The other ninja tried to help as their leader tore at his clothes, recoiling as he splashed droplets of the acid on them as well. The woman made her way through the disgusting cloud, and found a man-sized hole in the wall, leading to the outside. She leapt through it.

A man with an anbu mask was waiting for her. "Is everyone alright?" he asked urgently.

"He'll be fine!" she told him angrily. "Where is the boy!? You were supposed to be watching the house!"

"I didn't see anything," he told her with perfect calm.

"And what about THAT!?" She pointed at the hole in the second-story wall, which was still growing slightly and dripping molten stone.

"There was a cloud of smoke at first, but I didn't see anything come out of it. Does anyone in there need medical attention?"

"ARGH!" The kunoichi growled with frustration. "What a worthless guard you turned out to be. I'm going to go report to the Hokage."

The anbu watched her back as she dashed away, thinking, _The Hokage is one person you have no intention of telling about this. You expect me to believe he sent a team entirely composed of Root ninja?__  
_  
He decided to leave before the others came out as well. Now that Naruto had technically escaped the house, he was on his own. _Easiest job I've ever done,_ he thought to himself,_ And it payed twice.  
_

_

* * *

_

"Split up and find him."

If the man's voice had been rough before, now it could only be described as ragged. His face was covered by the tatters of black cloth that had looked so professional before, but now looked befitting of a child's nightmare. A very faint sound, like a dry whistle, announced to the educated ear that his breath passed in and out of his mouth through new passageways that weren't meant to be there. This man's life had just taken a very large turn for the worse.

"Once you find him, signal me and I shall come and kill him. It's as simple as that."

Without another word, the shinobi split up at lightning speed.

Several seconds passed before Naruto dared to emerge from his hiding place. A blob of black liquid seeped from the wall and formed itself into his face, followed by his entire body as he stepped away from the place that had been his home. He sighed and slinked quietly down the street, too upset to even look back one last time.

* * *

"It's Naruto!" One of the men cried, and the others all came running. Naruto didn't recognize a single face from the crowd, but they all seemed worried for him despite their otherwise disheveled appearances. He was guided quickly and noisily back to the camp, where he quietly noted that most of the tents were gone, and those that remained had men taking them down even as he watched. The tent in the center still stood, and the group that was escorting him scattered when he approached it.

"Tohno-san," he said softly as he swept back the flap. "It's time for us to go."

The young lord was facing away from him.

"Viral?" He breathed, and started to turn around.

"It's me," Naruto said. The young man's shoulders sagged.

"Where...where is Viral?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask your..." Naruto trailed off as he finally saw  
Tohno's face. Two lines of water glistened on his cheeks, starting at the eyes and gathering along his jawline. Something caught the light: he was holding a letter in his hands.

"What's that, Tohno-san?" Naruto asked softly.

"It's...a letter from Viral." Tohno seemed to remember himself all at once, and wiped his eyes with his embroidered sleeves. His expression became calmer, more like the man Naruto knew.

"I believe that Viral is..." his voice caught for a moment. "...has been killed. By Konoha."

"What?" Naruto breathed. The numbness that had been growing in his mind, the black hole at the edge of his vision, was nothing compared to what he felt now. He didn't feel alive. The boy went from floating on his back in an ocean of darkness to sinking into that darkness, being covered by it and accidentally swallowing it.

"What?" he repeated. "What, no! ...no!"

Tohno looked down at the ground.

"...NO!" he repeated more strongly, backing away.

"Naruto!" The young lord barked at him, catching his full attention. Then his voice became like silk again.

"I know you want to run, in fact we are all going to run together. We're going to find a new place away from here, and look out for ourselves. But first I want you to think!"

His words sounded like Viral could have been saying them, and Naruto listened just as intently.

"Do you have any attachments to Konoha? Any regrets in leaving?" Tohno pressed. "I want you to go complete them all. Bring with you everything you liked about Konoha and leave behind the rest, because you will never be able to call it your home again."

The idea made Naruto sad, in whatever way he could be sadder now than he was already. Still, nothing came to mind.

"I'm ready to leave now. Konoha has...nothing of value to me." But Tohno had caught the hesitation.

"Naruto," he sighed. "That doesn't just mean things, or sentiments. Are you sure there is NOTHING you will regret not taking with you?"

The boy squirmed uncomfortably.

"Sakura," he breathed, not to answer the question but because he couldn't stop himself from saying her name. Tohno smiled warmly.

"Well then, you'd better get going."

"What? Now? You can't be serious!"

"I'm very serious. Now is the only chance you are going to get. I'll send some of my men with you to keep you safe."

Naruto said nothing for a moment, then turned and walked out of the tent.

"Thank you," he said and let the flap swing shut.

Behind him, Tohno frowned bitterly and crumpled the letter in his fist. _What are you playing at, Viral!? _he demanded of the empty tent. _Your little stunt almost ruined everything! I swear you will answer for this when I find you!_

Breathing deeply, he unclenched his fist and studied the little half-moons in his palm. "I'll show you. I don't need you to pull this off!"

* * *

Sakura was having a bad dream. Naruto and Sasuke were sparring, and they kept making jokes and laughing about how she and Naruto were a couple now, but every time she tried to correct them something stuck in her throat. In fact, she couldn't say anything at all, it was like she'd lost her voice. She waved frantically, trying to get their attention but it wasn't working. Finally she got up and started to walk towards them but they were suddenly very far away from her, she couldn't reach them even when she started running. Then all at once Naruto started getting closer really fast and she tripped and plowed right into him.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" Naruto asked her. He'd taken a step back and caught her by the shoulders. She noticed how strong his arms were and how warm his smile was, but that didn't make things any better! It made them so much worse because she didn't love him, she loved...

"Pst, Sakura." Naruto said softly.

"Umm, what?" she asked, confused by his tone of voice. He leaned in closer to her, and she felt herself starting to blush.

"Psst!"

"What?" she said, getting annoyed. "I'm right here!" He leaned even closer. This was getting weird.

"Psst..." the world started to melt away around them.

"Sakura!" Naruto exploded into glitter with the rest of the world, and Sakura realized she was awake. She opened her eyes and saw the familiar ceiling of her room. It was just a dream, after all.

"...Hey, Sakura, you're awake!

"EEEYYYAAAHHH!!!!!" The pink-haired girl sent a pillow flying straight for the window, where Naruto's head was looking in at her. It hit him with a muffled *plaf* sound and fell to the floor, where they both stared at it. The first clue that something was wrong was that Naruto didn't laugh like he normally would have.

"Shhh!" he shushed her, looking around like he was scared of being caught.

"Naruto!" Sakura began, but he shushed her some more.

"...Naruto," she continued in a whisper. "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night!"

He looked uncomfortable. "May I come in?"

"No! Of course you can't!" she hissed.

"Oh."

"What do you want?"

Naruto studied the window frame.

"I have something to ask you."

_Oh no. No way_, Sakura thought.

"Can't it wait!?" she asked frantically. Naruto gave her a look that said it couldn't. Neither of them said anything as he gathered his thoughts.

"Sakura, I...I'm in a bit of trouble."

"What'd you do this time?"

"Nothing! It's not because I did anything. It's because I was born."

There was another moment of silence.

"I have to go away now, away from Konoha. I'm leaving my home behind, and everything I've ever owned." He looked like he was about to tear up.

"And I know that we haven't been together very long, but I care for you a lot...I realized tonight that I'll always, always regret it if I don't bring you along with me."

His speech over, Naruto became intensely interested in the floorboards. It took a little while for Sakura to process what he'd said before her answer started welling up inside her.

"Take...take me along with you?" she asked angrily. "What am I, your suitcase!?"

"What?" he rasped, "No!"

"You tricked me into saying I'd be your girlfriend, what, three days ago? And now you think I'm just going to drop everything and come with you, to I don't even know where?"

"That's not..." Naruto's voice trailed off into obscurity.

"I don't like you that much, Naruto! In fact, I don't like you at all!" All of Sakura's pent-up frustration with the world came spewing out in her words.

"...And you showed up at my window, in the middle of the night...that's just plain creepy! How do I know you're not going to just take me out in the woods and do something perverted? I don't trust you that much, nobody in all of Konoha trusts you that much!"

Naruto looked like he'd been stung by a bee. It was too bad about making him upset, but Sakura knew she'd feel soooo good after this. It was therapudic.

"I don't know where you're getting these ideas about me liking you, but please stop. It's uncomfortable for everyone. I'd rather you just go home and leave me alone."

Naruto chuckled. There he was, the boy she knew from the academy. Sakura smiled at him despite herself, relieved at finally being able to speak her mind.

"...bit hot," she heard him mumble.

"What was that?"

Naruto looked her straight in the eye and chuckled again, but she suddenly realized this was NOT the boy she knew. He looked so cold she felt like the air around them would freeze if he stayed long enough.

"I said, I might get a little hot if I go home now."

The teen looked over his shoulder at something she couldn't see. Then he let go of the windowsill and fell backward out of sight.

After a full minute, Sakura finally realized he wasn't coming back. Curiosity getting the best of her, she slipped out of bed and walked silently to the window.

There was a reddish glow coming from the city, far away underneath the head of the fourth Hokage. With the light coming up from below, the face looked surprisingly stern, almost as if it were angry at the village it overlooked. A wisp of air brought to her nose the scent of fire, and now she could see a black area where the stars were obscured, slowly billowing up into the night sky.

A growing sense of horror took hold of Sakura as she realized she'd believed less of Naruto's story than was true.

* * *

Difficult to write, but hopefully fun to read! Enjoy it over thanksgiving break and I'll try (yes the word try is very open-ended) to get another chapter up with all these days off I have.

-Critic


	14. Author Seeking help

Critic: So, to all of the people who've read this story and liked it, I really appreciate getting little "so-and-so put you on their alerts" emails. As I've already stated, this is sort of an ongoing project for me. I think a status report is due.

I have several chapters written beyond this one, but I'm stumped by a particular moral issue. It really bugs me when stories make characters evil for the purpose of being evil, so I wanted to set about detailing how people go bad (much like the core Naruto story does with Sasuke). In short, I need your help: ideas, suggestions, anything.

Chapter 14 is tentatively called "Something for Nothing." In it, Naruto returns to the bandit camp once again and is convinced by Lord Tohno to return to the village and kidnap Sakura to take her with them. I have two arguments he can give as to why Naruto should do this.

The first argument I was planning to use was that since he is powerful it is natural for him to take what he wants, an ironic twist on Viral's "Something for Nothing" statement earlier. It works if the Kyuubi is able to make Naruto angry enough, but I feel like it's too soon for him to be swayed by anger.

The second argument, which I thought of later, is that the elders of the village are over-controlling, even parasitic, and that leaving would be for Sakura's own good. It's a weaker argument from an outside point of view, but for a 14-15 year old it could work. It feeds off of Naruto's emotions for Sakura instead of opposing them.

The scene is ridiculously hard to write, I've already got several versions unfinished and I've written what happens next, I just want to get this done and move on! lol

Can you guys give me any advice? What do you think would be a realistic deception for Naruto? Keep in mind the Kyuubi can control his emotions to an extent, as well as cause pain and other physical responses to help convince him.

Thanks for your patience so far. We'll get a decent story out of me yet!


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